Classen16 is a new-build mixed-use apartment and commercial building that sits on the cusp of a heavily used arterial road and the vibrant, walkable Plaza District of Oklahoma City. Acting as a mediator between these contrasting contexts the building adopts a domestic scale that steps in discrete blocks and rises to address the business corridor of Classen Boulevard. The form hugs the street edge, concealing surface parking and residents’ amenity areas from the adjacent roads.
The streetscape is enlivened with a generous planted buffer and raised stoops to all the ground floor homes. The site was formerly the home of a dilapidated well known seafood restaurant and parking lot. Hinting at the history of the site, the building is clad with a shimmering, fish scale-like aluminum shake that reacts to the changing quality of light throughout the day.
