This rendering is used by site planners to create pictures of a proposed lifestyle center to illustrate to neighbors the minimal impact the project would have on their homes.

With commercial development on the rise, landscape architects and civil engineers have seen the emergence of both new and reused concepts for site design. What may have previously been just housing or office buildings are now being transformed into mixed-use developments. Mixed-use facilities are springing up more often, reinvigorating neighborhoods with condominiums, shops, restaurants and offices within the same complex, offering added convenience to residents and the general public.

Often, mixed-use developments employ smart growth tactics as well, with public transportation connections available on-site or within walking distance. In the retail arena, lifestyle centers are becoming this century’s new Main Street for towns. As the mixed-use and retail development trends continue to evolve, site designers will play a key role in the shaping of commercial development.

With land at a premium, especially in urban areas, mixed-use facilities are a popular option to provide housing, working and shopping in a compact area while also establishing a neighborhood feel. By attracting restaurants and retail shops on the ground level of residential developments, developers have created vibrant around-the-clock communities.

The close proximity of residential, office and retail is also a smart growth tactic because it reduces urban sprawl. Mixed-use developments built near public transportation (commonly referred to as “transit-oriented”) offer an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach to development. The mixed-use sites near public transit facilities decrease personal vehicle usage, thereby reducing air pollution and dependence on fossil fuels.

A recent mixed-use project that illustrates smart growth is Trolley Square in Cambridge, which is scheduled to be completed this year. On the site of a former Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trolley yard, the square will feature 40 residential units, some of which will be built around a raised courtyard with landscaped areas and seating. Units facing the neighborhood will feature a streetscape designed with a rhythm of windows, entries, canopies and bays. The site design also includes 2,700 square feet of community/retail/office space and underground parking. The mixed-use development is only a five-minute walk from the Davis Square T station and numerous bus routes.

With commercial development firmly on the comeback trail, it appears that mixed-use developments will gain in popularity due to their efficient and sustainable options for urban areas and growing suburbs.

Creating an Experience

Lifestyle centers – open-air, pedestrian-oriented, higher-end shopping centers – are an increasingly popular trend in retail construction. Modeled after the traditional quaint “village center,” with a more urban, Main Street feel, the lifestyle center is designed to appeal to the changing tastes, needs and demographics of today’s shoppers.

Everything in the design of a lifestyle center – from site materials and green space to lighting, parking layout and signage – should work together to create a consistent, pleasurable atmosphere and village center experience.

Site designers can create this experience using:

• Green space, serving as urban plaza spaces, featuring amenities like gazebos or even outdoor ice skating rinks. Such amenities not only contribute to the atmosphere, but they benefit the retailers as well by attracting shoppers and extending their stays at the lifestyle center.

• Strategically sited buildings and parking areas. This will maintain efficient and safe pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow. Brick pavers or colored concrete on walkways and in parking lots also create a more urban, pedestrian-oriented feel.

• Streetscape amenities. Amenities can include antique-style post clocks, decorative pedestrian-scale lighting, high-quality benches, decorative fencing, and hanging flower baskets.

• Signage that resembles those found in a downtown area. Instead of brightly lit signage, stone or wood signs should be installed.

• Screening. Trees, hedges or fences placed throughout the development can focus the customers’ eyes where retailers want them – on stores and away from parking areas.

While the site design of lifestyle centers poses many challenges and opportunities, developers must navigate the permitting process successfully to get a lifestyle center off the ground. Town officials and abutters to a site will frequently have concerns about the development – from the effect lighting will have on nearby homes to the increase in traffic to the amount and placement of trees and other vegetation. To that end, site planners can use graphics technology that creates a realistic visual of the completed project to expedite the approval and permitting process.

Abutters of a lifestyle center proposed in a suburb north of Boston were concerned with the proximity of the development and the impact the project would have on the views from their properties. New three-dimensional imaging allowed the site planners to create pictures of the site from the perspective of the neighbors’ properties with the proposed buildings, vegetation and other design components superimposed onto a real photograph. After seeing the proposed site simulated in such a way, the neighbors were able to understand the minimal impact the proposed project would have on their homes.

Designing a successful lifestyle center requires out-of-the-box thinking and a willingness to experiment with new ideas. Navigating the many challenges posed by lifestyle centers offers opportunities to utilize new technologies and test the limits of innovation en route to creating a new village center-type destination.

As urban and suburban renewal projects continued to emerge in 2006, commercial development played a vital role and will continue to do so this year and in the future. From mixed-use facilities to lifestyle centers, landscape architects and site designers will be busy as this revitalized chapter of commercial design evolves, bringing new commercial development to neighborhoods throughout the country.