Highly Efficient Apartment Building Design on a Very Small Lot

CODA on Centre is a LEED Gold, pet friendly, urban, five-story wood framed highly efficient apartment building design that sits on top of a two-story basement parking garage. The building design maximizes the use of the site in a “U” shape, with the interior units centered around an outdoor courtyard amenity space containing popular outdoor tenant amenities including; a bar, gas grills, fire pits, outdoor television and seating area, and dining area with overhead trellis.

The six-story design allowed for an efficiency of over 230 units per acre, in a non-high-rise building! Using an industry standard metric for four story buildings, this is the equivalent of a 140 unit per acre density – it’s a highly efficient apartment building design. Apartment unit types include a mix of studio apartments, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments.

The building itself is U-shaped to achieve a highly efficient apartment building design, opening up to the north; a departure from the “norm” of creating south facing courtyards. The benefits are multiple; it provides a buffer to filter out the noise of a busy public street, gives privacy and a sense of security to people using the space, and it offers views beyond the urban skyline.

Street level amenities include a large combination club room & game room, piano room, bar and kitchen, fitness center w/ dedicated yoga area, business center, leasing offices, package room, dry cleaning pickup center, mailroom, and main lobby area with reception desk. Most of these spaces are lined with extensive glass looking out onto the busy Centre Avenue street front, bringing in extensive daylight for users of the space, while allowing passersby a glimpse of the “life at CODA”.

At the time of its completion, the highly efficient apartment building design and layout of amenities was so efficient that it allowed a budget for musician in-residence, where budding local musicians could live rent-free in exchange for playing music in the evenings for tenants, a testament to the Owner and design team’s commitment to community.

The design of CODA on Centre aims to respect and honor the neighborhood of East Liberty’s rich history in stage music and jazz. Located just blocks away from the Kelly-Strayhorn theater, the neighborhood was home to stage and screen actor Gene Kelley, as well as noted jazz musicians such as Mary Lou Williams (unheard of for a woman in jazz), Billy Eckstine, Ahmad Jamal, and most notably Erroll Garner and Billy Strayhorn (who composed over 500 pieces with Duke Ellington).

As a nod to such a rich history of music and stage performances, the building name CODA comes from the musical term for the ending of a song or dance. The term was interpreted by the developer as providing the ending for the tenant’s day, as they come home to rest at the end of the day. The highly efficient apartment building design is intended to act as a stage or display to the daily life in the building, while creating a strong sense of community.

A direct result of the highly efficient apartment building design led to the amenity spaces lining the front of the building along the street. Brian took advantage of this effect and used it to “tell a story” along the facade, to the people along the street. Similar to a department store holiday window display, each large grouping of windows along the sidewalk shows a different glimpse or view of the life inside the building. In a sense, it’s much like walking through the varying scenes of a stage play.

The building itself is designed to act as a stage, with the furnishings and tenants providing the drama and activity for the viewer. Color schemes were purposely muted; mostly whites and grays provide a subtle backdrop with brightly colored accents on feature walls or floors in key locations, and brightly colored furniture to put the focus on the living part of the building. Anyone walking by can look in and see the activity inside of the building as if it were a play, or in modern day, a reality show.

From outside the building, pedestrians first see the entry vestibule with its eclectic light fixture and brightly colored wall, followed by the main lobby and reception desk – colorfully adorned with a wall of vinyl records. Next, they see the management office, followed by the leasing office where prospective tenants go to sign a lease. After that is the reading room, with the mailboxes in the background, followed by the community kitchen & bar, then the club room, with the game room in the background of both. Then there’s a long corridor with a bright CODA sign, bringing the display to its end, finally ending with the fitness center.

For tenants inside the building, this all creates a great sense of community among the tenants. And between the vibrant colors scattered throughout the building, jazz-oriented furnishings and artwork, and musician-in residence, tenants are immersed in an environment that embraces the neighborhood’s rich cultural history.