Bluestone Development
102 Units, 3 Stories
S. 13th & Leavenworth St., Omaha, NE 68102
2006

This Industrial chic hillside village adds new townhouses and lofts to an existing fabric of turn-of-the-century loft buildings in the Old Market district in Omaha – dubbed SoMa.

The high-density planning concept is based on a small footprint 3-story townhome with roof garden/deck as a primary outdoor space. Built on a sloping site, with nearly a half-story difference between front to back units, a significant design challenge was to create a unified approach to the roof access structures on top of the buildings. The solution was a curved roof form that integrates two roof structures into one form, allowing the curve to drop down, engaging its lower neighbor. The rectilinear townhomes are counterbalanced by the arching roof elements to give the development its signature look. Brick and corrugated aluminum metal siding materials are carefully composed to engage large windows to open vistas. These materials help ground the design by reflecting the industrial characteristic of this host neighborhood.