Located in downtown Clayton, Missouri, this project transforms a vacant and underutilized parcel into a project designed to knit together a vibrant yet varied urban context.
The full-block development comprises two buildings. At the northeast corner stands the 1935 Shanley Building, an International Style landmark designed by Harris Armstrong and widely recognized as the first comprehensive example of the style in the central Midwest. Respectfully refurbished, it retains its original entrance and address and now serves as a shared office amenity for residents. Framing Shanley and completing the block, the new, larger mixed-use multifamily building is organized around a podium that leverages the site’s steep topography to accommodate three levels of parking while maintaining active frontages on all three public streets. Its varied massing and expression enable a high degree of contextual response and street-level engagement.
Conceived as an assemblage of smaller volumes, the composition breaks down overall scale and responds to the development patterns and historic fabric of downtown Clayton, including the adjacent Shanley Building. Each volume adopts a distinct character and material language, calibrated to complement and enhance its immediate surroundings.
Enhanced landscape and new sidewalks reinforce this activation on each frontage: an improved retail presence along South Central Avenue, widened sidewalks supporting stoop units on Maryland Avenue, and a new entry courtyard along North Bemiston Avenue, defined by the preserved Shanley Building and the residential lobby and amenity spaces.
The interiors extend the exterior’s heterogeneity with a refined, eclectic sensibility. An elegant ground-floor lobby, punctuated by locally commissioned artwork, leads to warm primary amenity spaces above. Designed to enhance well-being through physical and visual connections to the outdoors, the upper level amenities are surrounded by rooftop outdoor spaces. The club room extends onto a furnished terrace overlooking the entry courtyard and streetscape below, and in the luxurious rooftop “backyard,” residents are invited to lounge, play and dine. Together, these spaces bring an elevated, hospitality-driven character to the new residential community.
237 Dwelling Units
346 Parking Spaces
9,000 sf of Amenity
10,300 sf of Retail
NGBS Bronze
