Brown Development Resubmits Plans to Bethesda Downtown Design Advisory Panel
Today, Brown Development resubmitted its Battery Lane District sketch plan to the Bethesda Downtown Design Advisory Panel (DAP). This follows the previous submission on March 13. The DAP provides advice and recommendations that heighten design excellence and improves the quality of architecture, urban design and landscape architecture in Bethesda.
The DAP encouraged the development team to present a more comprehensive urban design vision for Battery Lane District with big ideas, notable design moments, and cohesive public realm improvements that will set the standard for future development along the full length of Battery Lane.
The DAP outlined five (5) primary recommendations:
Provide an Urban Design Vision for the entire street, incorporating opportunities for deeper setbacks, increasing the tree canopy and plantings to create a garden district that differentiates itself from more urban areas of Bethesda.
Widen the open space on Site D, the North Bethesda Trail Greenway, creating a better visual and physical connection between Battery Lane Park and the National Institutes of Health campus.
Reconfigure the massing and orientation of the buildings on Site D in coordination with the widened public open space along the trail; reducing the footprint and increasing the height of the midrise building.
Create a brief pattern book or selection of materials to provide cohesion for the multiple projects in Battery Lane District, with an effort to avoid excessive homogeneity while aiming to provide some consistency.
Consider making one of the connections along Site C pedestrian-only, rather than having a vehicular loop around the entire site; study the feasibility of a street connection between Battery Lane and Rugby Avenue.
Today, in response to these DAP recommendations, combined with the valuable feedback collected during the pre-submission community meeting, the development team resubmitted its plans to the DAP. The DAP will convene again on May 22, 2019, to consider and comment on the proposed redevelopment plans.