Carlyle, Alexandria, VA 1990

Year Completed: Plan approved in 1990
Developer: The Oliver Carr Company and Norfolk Southern Corporation
Architect: Cooper, Robertson & Partners
Land Area: 80 Acres; building area: 7 million square feet
Location: Alexandria, VA
Located on a former railyard, the 72 acre Carlyle Master Plan incorporates important features of traditional urbanism found in the Washington, D.C. area and serves as a model for the infill or urban areas adjacent to mass transit with mixed-use, mid- density development.

Carlyle presents a contemporary and innovative solution to the design of mixed-use buildings and their integration into city blocks. The development surrounds a series of places, each providing an appropriate setting for a variety of uses and activities. The plan’s massing concept recalls the three to five story scale of Old Town precincts, while permitting greater density in the commercial areas.

The design has four distinct features. First, it extends and complements the street and block plan and building relationships of the adjacent Old Town, Alexandria. Second the plan instills a strong sense of place in the pedestrian realm through a balanced system of streets, open spaces, and active street frontages. Third, the impact of the automobile is minimized by maximum use of below grade parking. And fourth, the project has a phasing strategy in which a major open space is finished with each phase of construction, allowing each of the five districts to be fully completed in sequence. 1

1. Cooper, Robertson & Partners: Cities to Gardens. Mulgrave, Vic.: Images Pub. Group, 2007. Print.