A series of rooftop gardens for a residential building in Detroit

The residential and commercial building John R 2660 is part of the urban development of Brush Park district in Detroit, currently undergoing a major urban and cultural growth. The new plan includes buildings of different types and scales: it is the largest housing project in Detroit in recent decades after Lafayette Park complex, designed by Mies van der Rohe in 1956. 

For the development plan, Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects (LOHA) created four buildings that fit into the existing urban fabric and incorporate residential and commercial functions to foster the relationship between community and architecture. Located at the four corners of the neighbourhood, the blocks blend into the context while respecting the heights and materials of the historic buildings – their brick, metal and wood claddings are commonly used in Detroit.

John R 2660 houses 35 residential units ranging from 40 to 90 sqm and a retail space on the ground floor. Spread over five levels on the southern side, the structure has three levels on the opposite facade to maintain the same proportions of the front-facing Victorian building. Five overlapping volumes define the building’s stepped form and create rooftop gardens open to the city, visually connected to the neighbourhood’s parks.

Facades are clad in vertical red cedar panels and cut by full-height windows. The vertical elements play with the horizontality of the dark metal bands of the volumes while the cantilevered first level creates a covered passage around the building.