DOMINION BOULEVARD CORRIDOR STUDY | Chesapeake, Virginia
16 | Summary
BUILDING BULK AND FORM CONCEPTS
Regional and Place Sensitive Design
.Buildings should be designed to take advantage of local climate, building practices and
regional culture.
Vertical Mixing of Land Uses within Buildings
Vertically mixed use buildings in the Focal Areas (the walkable mixed use areas and
commercial areas associated with Areas 3 and 6 in particular) is highly encouraged with
multi-story buildings that have retail or office on the ground floors and office or residential
uses on the upper floors.
Buildings Address the Street and Public Spaces
Buildings in the Focal Areas should address the street and public spaces with doors,
windows, porches and stoops creating a link with the public pedestrian environment.
Transparency at Street Level
Commercial buildings (retail, office and light industrial) and mixed use buildings should have
50% transparency on the ground floor building elevation that fronts on the public realm.
Identifiable Floors
Multistory commercial buildings and vertically mixed use buildings of 4-5 stories should have
an identifiable ground floor sized appropriately for retail at between 16 ft. and 20 ft., upper
stories that have balconies and windows and a top.
Consistent Building Edge at Street
Buildings in the Focal Areas should meet the sidewalk environment without a setback and
create a consistent building edge along the sidewalk.
Corner Lots
Buildings located on the corner of two streets should address both streets.
Building Length
Individual commercial buildings should generally be 90 feet long or less.
Rhythmic Pedestrian Scaled Facade
Individual commercial buildings in the Focal Areas should use a rhythm of approximately 30
feet in width to create variations in the architecture at the street level to something more in
scale with the pedestrian.
Highlighted Entry
The front door of commercial buildings should be highlighted and distinguished with
architectural details, awnings, furniture, lighting, signage and landscape.
Shade and Comfort
Awnings and other devices that provide shade and protection from the weather should adorn
the ground floor elevation of buildings that front onto public sidewalks.
High Density Residential Oriented to the Street
High density residential buildings in the Focal Areas should be oriented so that doors have
direct access to the street. High density residential buildings should be minimally set back
