Metropica, a mixed-use, residential and entertainment mega city, is creating a lot of excitement. Chris Bauer of CI Design, and colleague of The Lighting Practice, details the project in Metropica: A City For The Future. TLP is honored to be on the design team, led by CI Design.
TLP is providing lighting design direction for the new, mixed-use development in Sunrise, FL. Our team is designing the site lighting to support pedestrian use, promote safety, and create emphasis on landscape details. TLP will also design façade accent lighting for select retail and residential buildings. LEDs will be used throughout.
Metropica: A City For The Future
A new urban core for South Florida, and a new prototype for the 21st century city, Metropica in Sunrise, Florida, just may point the way to a sustainable future for a growing population. Developer Metropica Holdings LLC, based in Sunrise, and Baltimore-based master planner and architect ci design are creating an entirely new residential and entertainment city district that complements, embraces and connects its more suburban neighbors.
The 4 million-square-foot Metropica will consist of 400,000 square feet of retail, 2,550 residential units, 650,000 square feet of office space, two 120-room hotels, 9,627 parking spaces, a central park, and transit station, all on 65 acres at the epicenter of South Florida’s retail and entertainment district at Sunrise Boulevard and NW 136th Avenue. The development will be an environmentally sensitive, pedestrian-oriented core that will utilize public transit to become a larger community with such suburban elements as the Sawgrass Mills mall, BB&T Center and upcoming American Express corporate campus. In this respect, Metropica is at the forefront of a national — and global — trend of urbanization.
Population growth in U.S. cities has risen 12.1 percent from 2000 to 2010, versus 9.7 percent overall, according to the most recent U.S. census. Florida is no exception, with a population expected to rise from 20.4 million in 2010 to 25 million in 2030, according to npg.org. Densification and resulting mass transit are the only ways to accommodate this growth while maintaining the environment. Several other areas in South Florida, such as Delray Beach and Pompano Beach, have built thriving downtowns in recent years. Metropica will do so for areas west of Interstate 95 but in a more holistic and technology-focused fashion. An internal shuttle bus system as well as a transit station for regional buses will link Metropica to its neighboring developments as well as to the rest of Western Broward County.
Click to read the full article here.
