Detroit architects McIntosh Poris Associates is set to embark on a renovation and residential expansion of Lafayette Park, the model of Modern city planning designed by Mies van der Rohe. The architects say the redevelopment plan, including 30 new-town homes and an update of an existing retail center, builds on Mies’ original vision of creating an integrated urban community.

McIntosh Poris worked closely with the local community—including many original residents who have lived in Lafayette Park since its completion—on the redevelopment plan. The new homes will enrich the diversity and vitality of the residential neighborhood, with landscaping and pedestrian pathways connecting the homes to the central park and the existing residential community and the retail center.

The design will enhance the community’s open space by reinforcing the park edge, shielding the parking lot from direct view, and providing additional “eyes on the park.” The six new low-rise buildings in the southeastern area of the 78-acre development will help create more intimate landscaped areas connecting back to the larger park. Visually, the buildings will act as a foreground for viewing the towers, much as Mies originally intended, the architects note. Two- and three-bedroom homes will range from 1,800 to 2,100 square feet, with two-car garages on the lower level. Designed to complement the geometry and scale of the existing buildings, the town homes feature flat roofs, simple massing, and regularly spaced aluminum-framed curtain walls and fenestration. Material used in the new construction, including brick exterior cladding, steel and concrete steps, and painted metal, will also echo the existing palette of the historic district.

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