The streetscape project currently underway in Rosslyn, VA, aims to strengthen the city’s brand, decrease visual clutter, and improve the pedestrian experience.
A formal inventory of everything on the streets revealed that the BID had “quite a mish-mash of elements, just hundreds of various pieces that didn’t match, and that adds to visual clutter,” says Mary-Claire Burick, BID president.
Instead of the mish-mash, the BID wanted attractive, sleek, modern designs in keeping with its brand for the district.
“A lot of places have off-the-shelf elements,” Burick says. “The primary reason for us wanting to do our own branded elements is that we’ve gone through a lot of effort to articulate Rosslyn’s brand and character, that we are very different from the county, which is suburban in nature. We thought, in keeping with that, we would make sure everything we are putting out in the public realm is not only practical and helps to convene people, but is beautiful, as well, and builds on a sleek, contemporary aesthetic in keeping with the neighborhood.”
To clear the clutter, existing light poles and street planters were repainted to create a more consistent color palette. While outdated benches, tables, chairs, planters, and more were replaced with sleek metal designs depicting the city skyline.
Many of the new elements simply replace items already within the district on a one-for-one basis, says Doug Plowman, the Rosslyn Business Improvement Corporation’s urban planning and design manager.
But there will also be a number of new elements on downtown streets. These include a mobile solar charging station, roving information cart, and newsbox organizer or corral.
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