Dover Kohl project in South Mississippi

Before & After Views

A FEW MONTHS before Hurricane Katrina hit South Mississippi, Dover Kohl & Partners held a charrette to turn an office park in Bay St. Louis already under construction into a Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND), with a mixed-use town center within walking distance of a range of housing types, and pedestrian-friendly streets. Dover Kohl is one of the design teams on the charrette, and Bay St. Louis is one of the 11 cities and towns being studied.

Many architects will look at the iron balconies and call them kitsch, nostalgic and sentimental. Actually the balconies are very popular in the area, where they can be ordered at a very reasonable prices. They shelter pedestrians and buildings from the harsh midday sun, and keep the rain off pedestrians. They're a good example of a regional tradition that works as well today as in the past.

The corner store below is also a gas station. It reverses the normal late-twentieth century pattern, putting the store on the street for the pedestrian, and the car in back where it belongs.

"Gas Backwards"