Rochester, NY The newly constructed 260 East Broad St. building in downtown has received the top design award from the AIA Rochester’s 2022 Design Awards, held on June 9^th. This award is the highest honor bestowed on a project. The building is owned by Buckingham Properties and the design team included Bergmann as architecture and engineering lead, and LeFrois as construction manager.

260 East Broad St. is a five-story, 107,000 s/f, mixed-use development situated in a prominent location along a key vehicular gateway to the city and on the site of the historic Midtown Plaza. Completed in 2021, it is one of the latest examples of downtown’s resurgence, bringing an exciting mix of retail, dining, residential spaces and a commercial anchor tenant to the heart of the city.

“This is an exciting time to be working in the City of Rochester,” said Andrew Raus, AICP, senior vice president, Bergmann. “Significant investment downtown is contributing to the economic resiliency of our region. 260 East Broad St. is a prime example of how one project can play a part in the broader transformative vision unfolding in our community in a manner that will endure for generations.”

The project team was challenged to design a building that would match the visibility and importance of the site, while addressing unique structural requirements, including constructing the building over an existing three-story below-grade parking garage.

The building design includes steel frame construction that uses the existing parking garage column grid with brick, cementitious panels, aluminum composite panels, stone and curtainwall assemblies. Moving from west to east, the building progressively reduces in scale and utilizes a mix of design elements on the exterior, to provide a series of experiences intended to promote pedestrian usage of neighboring sites.

The building features numerous outdoor spaces, including roof patios for commercial tenant and shared-use, plus dedicated balconies for most of the 28 residential apartments.

The location is brought to life at night with an exterior lighting design that incorporates pedestrian-level lighting, commercial-focused lighting at the ground level, and illumination of residential spaces on the upper floors and roof decks.

“We are grateful to Buckingham Properties, specifically Ken Glaser and Aaron Malbone, for giving us this opportunity to help bring their vision for this marquee building to life,” said Gary Flisnik, assoc. AIA, PMP, project manager, Bergmann. “Our team utilized an integrated design approach to combine multiple perspectives and delivered a building that stands on its own while having a sense of connection to the structures around it. The end result is something we can all be very proud of and will make a lasting statement in downtown.”

In receiving this design award from the AIA Rochester chapter, the project will now be considered for state-level recognition by AIA New York State.