Crumbling bricks and planters and a narrow plaza needed an update at the York YWCA.
For decades, the York YWCA building at 320 E. Market Street has helped women and children get back on their feet after tragic circumstances. But after having women lining up outside its doors and children playing along its sidewalk for many years, the bricks are worn and planter walls are beginning to fall apart.
Throughout the past several months, though, Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects has been designing an updated vision for the front areas outside of the 120-year-old building.
Currently, seven stairs lead from the street level up to the main entrance of the Georgian brick building while a side entrance has an accessible ramp. During the COVID-19 pandemic, YWCA staff found that outdoor space was limited when it came to new distancing requirements.
“The minimal hardscape didn’t provide a good area for people to queue up when people had to spread out,” says Architectural Designer Patrick Ness, who served as the primary designer on the commission.
A space beyond the queue
M&D was tasked with the goal of making a new hardscaped plaza outside the front door bigger and more functional while also beautifying the space. Ness worked with the YWCA staff and Architectural Designer Harper Brockway through several design options.
The team considered an asymmetrical layout, varying heights of the plaza and new planters, and an array of materials for the space before settling on a clean, symmetrical, terraced design that fit well with the Georgian style of the existing building.
“We wanted to be sensitive to the nature of the actual building,” Ness says, “to not do something too out of the ordinary, something that flows with the building.”
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One of the biggest struggles with the commission was balancing design with building code and zoning limitations. The team was limited by the number of impervious surfaces they were allowed to have without getting a variance. At the same time, they wanted a space that, while beautiful, would also be low maintenance. They also had to mitigate some drainage issues that had caused water to pool on the landing.
Partway through the schematic design phase, the team hit a snag. They received a site survey that was different from the initial information they had originally been working with. They would be losing three feet of terrace design space all along the entire neighboring property.
The M&D team responded by diving in and redesigning with a fervor, striving to keep as much terrace area as possible while not exceeding the size of the lot.
Multi-functional space
With a new plan approved, M&D ultimately settled on turning the current seven-step climb to the front entrance into three steps, a lower plaza, then a second set of steps up to the main building entrance.
“Seeing them really gravitate toward one design,” Ness says, “you know that you’ve made something that is going to be appreciated by the client.”
Ness looks forward to seeing the completed new upgrades later this year. He’s hopeful that the expanded hardscape areas will accommodate more than just a queue of people. Ness imagines the space being used for hanging out or even hosting small outdoor classes.
“It’s going to provide a safer area for kids and for people accessing the building,” he says. “It’s constructed in a way hopefully to last a long time.”
Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects took on the Architecture, Interior Design, & Overall Project Management for the new Bedford Elementary School, and the outcome is impactful.