CoolTown Studios

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September 28, 2007

The atrium lofts that helped transform a city

The development firm Urban Splash's pioneering founder, Tom Bloxham was profiled in the previous entry, so now it's fitting to present one of his signature projects that initiated the loft movement in Manchester, England. It sparked a transition from a built environment designed for the industrial economy, to a knowledge-based one.

Constructed before 1904 as a major department store (Affleck & Brown), the Smithfield Buildings, a group of nine buildings covering a full city block in Manchester's city center, endured thirty years of rapid retail turnover until Urban Splash acquired them in 1996. With a keen eye toward what creatives wanted, as explained in Tom's story, the development became an instant hit, with 80 loft apartments surrounding a central light-filled atrium (top right) and garden, a gym in the basement, and several shops and cafes on the ground floor. With views of the street on one side and a garden atrium on the other (bottom left), residents enjoy an outdoor connection on dual sides...

Here's a review by one such resident, "The best thing about my apartment is the location. The next best thing is my large terrace, which runs the length of my lounge and is about eight feet deep. I like the character of the apartments and the original features, such as cast iron columns and beams, which make the building more interesting and unique."

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September 27, 2007

Urban Splash - hard to imagine a cooler developer

The cities in northwest England, namely Liverpool and Manchester, weren't transitioning very gracefully from the industrial era. Enter Tom Bloxham, founder of the wildly progressive development company, Urban Splash in 1993, who all but single-handedly invented loft living in those cities. The unique story of how Urban Splash came to be, however, is a pretty typical one for the kind of in-demand developer he is today... he had no initial intention whatsoever of being a developer.

Tom began selling records at a Manchester market and confessed he was so bad at it that he started selling the posters that came with them instead. As his business grew, he found a 6000 s.f. space that was too large, so he sublet the rest of it to young creative entrepreneurs (similar to the Affinity Lab story), which once again started making more money than his current business.

With a new business model, he proceeded to buy a dilapidated building in Liverpool and converted into the 'first modern bar in the city'. This is also when he met architect Jonathan Falkingham who he would then establish Urban Splash with, focusing on creative urban redevelopments targeting young first-time buyers. His company now employs over 200 people.

His projects back up his words, "My belief is that the only good business deal is one where everybody gets something out of it. I'm not interested in screwing anybody over. A good deal for me is where we get something out of it, the purchaser gets something out of it, the local authority gets something out of it and everyone's a winner. They're the deals you come back to and do time and time again."

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September 26, 2007

The sounds of high urban quality of life

There's endless research on what makes a city look good, but what about what makes a city sound good? Is there a body of research that complements the visuals of well-designed streets and buildings with how to create a more enlightened experience by what is heard?

Five universities jointly funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in the UK may very well be the first to provide that. Their Positive Soundscapes project aims to "move away from a focus on negative noise and to identify a means whereby the concept of positive soundscapes can effectively be incorporated into planning."

Why? Intrusive sound is pervasive - traffic noise is audible in 87% of homes in England, where the study is based, and 54% are exposed to levels reaching serious irritation.

Some of the positive urban sounds they've identified to date:

- Tires on wet, bumpy asphalt (perhaps a vote for rubber-tired light rail over steel tracks)
- The rumble of an overground train
- The thud of heavy bass heard on the street outside a nightclub, which is generally preferred to high-pitched noises
- Laughing babies
- Skateboarders practising in underground car parks
- Orchestras tuning up
- Water features

Interestingly, many people actually prefer distant highway noise to rushing water, until they are told what the sounds are. Also, buildings and trees can be used strategically to help 'orchestrate' (since it's a positive sound ;) a symphony of urban 'instruments'.

What urban sounds do you enjoy in your neighborhood? To me, it feels a bit too eerie when its overly quiet in the city. I'd have to say outdoor dining conversation is pretty up there.

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September 25, 2007

Innovation happens at the edge of chaos

In science, the 'edge of chaos' is the region between order and complete randomness or chaos, where the complexity is maximal - where innovation and survival is most likely to take place. Then there is death or inanimate, where things are 'frozen'.

The City of Littleton, Colorado, the founder of economic gardening, has pioneered research on the edge of chaos as it applies to cities and the three phases of life, to which organizations and economies naturally apply.

Frozen phase: "No information gets transferred and no activity takes place, so it is impossible to adapt." Know any companies like this?

Chaotic phase: Information and change takes place so fast that nothing is stable enough to retain its identity." Thus, the dot com crash.

Stable phase: A regular rhythm of activity in which identity is retained but adaptation to changing conditions is slow. The status quo. Human nature.

While humans may believe the stable phase leads to survival, it's actually at the edge of chaos and stability (a very fine line) where long-term survival flourishes, allowing constant adaptation to evolve according to ever changing environments and conditions.

In Littleton, the local businesses realized they needed to operate at the edge of chaos to rapidly adapt and innovate to survive and grow within the growing presence of Walmart, as well as to fill the void left by the deterioration of once majestic industrial age companies like GM. At the edge of chaos, businesses know that breakthroughs happen from breakdowns, and that "success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." (Winston Churchill).

In other words, creativity and innovation happens at the intersection of fire and ice.

Learn more about economic gardening here.

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September 24, 2007

How does your city stack up among 'America's Most Romantic'?

Some cities have that intangible quality that sets them apart. I think a large factor in creating that essence is how much romance it inspires. The folks at Tango Magazine: Smart Talk About Love via Reader's Digest spent a compelling amount of time looking into this in their write-up, America's Most Romantic Cities.

They singled out New York, Miami, New Orleans, San Francisco as the most romantic, but better yet, they provided insight on where to...

Meet: On the beach in Miami at the Nikki Beach Club (pictured); a coffeehouse in Seattle; between the lions at the New York Public Library; cajun dancing at Tipitina's in New Orleans (NOLA)
Build the excitement: At an open-air Latin dance club in Miami;
Fight On the subway platform in New York; in the surf in Miami; at Pike's Place Market in Seattle; the Saturn Bar in NOLA
Hide and sulk: NY's Metropolitan Museum of Art with a view of the Hudson; Ocean Beach in SF; Cafe Sambal with a terrace overlooking Biscayne Bay, Miami;
Make up: Strolling through Manhattan's Diamond District or public gardens; on NOLA St. Charles Avenue streetcar; served dinner in private alcoves with platform beds at B.E.D. in Miami;
Celebrate the reconciliation: A drink at the Ponchartrain Hotel in NOLA, truly make up at The Soniat House or Hotel Maison de Ville; and recover at Commander's Palace in the Garden District;
Have daring sex: Back of a cab or between stops on the G train in New York City; Twin Peaks lookout in SF
Bring up taboo topics: Good Vibration' Antique Vibrator Museum in SF
Relive famous pairings: J. Lo and... in Miami; Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct; Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in NYC; Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in Seattle
Only in ... can you: Stay up all night and then go out for dinner in NYC; rollerblade in a string bikini without attracting attention in Miami; make out at the top of Space 'Needle'.