Prospect - DPZ | CODESIGN

Key Facts

1993
Designed
77 ac.
Project Size
Kiki Wallace
Client

Program

320
Units
120,000 sq.ft.
Retail Space

About Prospect

Prospect is a 77-acre new community located approximately two miles south of downtown Longmont in an area projected for intensive growth. Concerned about the sprawl that has proliferated in nearby towns such as Boulder, local citizens welcomed the opportunity to participate in a charrette planning process.

One of the major challenges in the development of the master plan was the restriction of access to the two arterial roads to the north and east of the project. Originally slated to become an expressway, the charrette demonstrated that expansion of the north artery was unnecessary. The proposal features a variety of housing types including rowhouses, live/work units, detached single-family houses, and apartments above garage outbuildings; the architectural syntax was inspired by the mining activity and mining towns in the area. Landscape regulations require the use of indigenous vegetation with low water requirements, and the street layout makes the most of the community’s natural setting by preserving views to the four mountain peaks west of the site.

The Rocky Mountain Institute is considering this neighborhood as a model for future sustainable development and has conducted studies concerning on-site drainage, solar orientation of buildings, and facilitation of small scale organic farming. In addition, Habitat for Humanity has expressed interest in building houses on the site, which will provide additional affordable housing opportunities.

Development Approach

Community engagement in planning: resulting in reduced need for regional infrastructure
Long views as civic amenity: central green and axial streets providing public views of mountains
Infrastructure accommodated: community garden occupying power line easement

Defining Design Details

Ease of orientation: axial streets and loop road facilitate wayfinding
Plurality of architecture: syntax inspired by the region’s mining towns allows historic and contemporary styles to coexist