Transforming Large Sites Through Strategic Spaces

On large sites, the biggest design impact often comes not from the buildings themselves but from what happens between them - the spaces where people live, move, and connect.

At Meltzer/Mandl, we focus on these in-between spaces because that’s where architecture becomes experience.

We pay close attention to everyday patterns:

✅ How residents get from car to front door

✅ Where deliveries, strollers, and bikes are stored

✅ What makes an entrance legible and welcoming

✅ Where neighbors interact, gather, or pass by each other

That thinking guided our approach on a recent project in East New York, where a long-neglected half block was reimagined as a community of affordable, three-family townhouses forming a 63-unit co-op. What began as a floodplain site with shifting zoning rules and regulatory challenges became an opportunity to create a cohesive, walkable neighborhood.

Every circulation path, stoop, and courtyard was designed to support daily life, making the journey from street to front door intuitive, comfortable, and connected.

By carefully designing the spaces between buildings, we turned constraints into opportunities:

✅ Shared porches and stoops encourage neighborly interaction while maintaining accessibility and resilience

✅ Landscaped courtyards and rain gardens transform required stormwater management into green oases that enhance the resident experience

✅ Parking, accessibility, and infrastructure were integrated into the landscape rather than hidden, creating a more walkable, resilient, and human-scaled environment

✅ Streetscape design with clear entries, rhythm, and curb appeal reinforces dignity, pride, and continuity with the surrounding neighborhood

Creative solutions, like fitting three-family homes within height restrictions using pitched roofs, allowed the project to increase density while respecting the scale of adjacent homes. The result is a neighborhood that feels grounded, human-scaled, and vibrant—where residents can take pride in homeownership and engage with their surroundings.

Because great urban environments aren’t built from density alone. They’re built in the livable, connective spaces that tie everything together.

At Meltzer/Mandl, we go beyond the building to design environments that function beautifully, flow intuitively, and foster community.