Working with the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development, Cunningham | Quill and Oculus (a landscape architect) designed a new mixed-use urban neighborhood and downtown sector plan for the Town of Herndon, Virginia. This revitalization plan for mostly vacant and blighted properties, just east of the historic downtown and new municipal center, is intended to provide an urban village connection between a new Senior Community Center (by CQA) and the existing Herndon Harbor House (an existing senior housing community) and the downtown core.

The development will combine residential townhouses, stacked townhouses, multifamily “manor houses” and office/retail buildings along traditionally designed tree-lined urban streets. Alley systems separate pedestrians from automobiles, creating a pedestrian-friendly environment. To ensure the quality of development, the design team formulated neighborhood street and building Design Guidelines to be incorporated into anticipated development proposals. The guidelines address urban design issues affecting the entire neighborhood such as building use, building frontage and orientation, building height and massing, landscaping and parking. The guidelines also address specific building and streetscape design issues such as proportions, fenestration, signage, materials and street furnishings.

2006 Published, Urban Spaces IV