Baltimore Inner Harbor East

Baltimore, MD

Winner of the 1995 AIA Honor Award for Urban Design, Inner Harbor East was cited by the AIA as “a highly sophisticated example of how to create mixed-use communities that work by planning for integration of residential and commercial uses.” EE&K designed this project to add a residential dimension to the City’s successful Inner Harbor, providing an opportunity for more people to live at the water’s edge while remaining close to downtown. The mixed-use program provides for residential facilities, two major office buildings, a hotel, and ground-level retail space ranging from a supermarket to waterside shops and restaurants. The water edges are activated through the development of a marina and marine-related retail. Great care has been taken to preserve the sense of residential scale: the plan calls for four-story structures along the water, with building heights increasing inland, maximizing views both out to the harbor and back to the city.

The most important and intensively used element of the open space system is the promenade, which is a breakthrough in contemporary urban design since it is linked with a new waterfront street that encircles the site. Pedestrians and automobiles have access to the entire water’s edge, and creating a true neighborhood feel and character.