Kansas City, MO | 2008

During the 1950s, the Waldo Theater (the structure originally located on the site) served as a cultural center for Waldo, and urban neighborhood located along the once-thriving Kansas City Trolley System. Since that time, the Waldo Theater evolved as a mixed-use center, often housing neighborhood cafes, small retail, apartments and local businesses. Sadly, during February of 2007, the historic Waldo Theater burned to the ground. The owner of the site commissioned el dorado to design a new mixed-use building that could continue to accommodate small local businesses while introducing accessible and sustainable approaches for development at a neighborhood scale. The new building includes complete ADA accessibility egress, natural ventilation, a planted roof, new streetscape, and a commissioned art installation which doubles as a sun-screening device for the upper level glazing system. Perhaps most importantly, the new center drastically improves visibility into retail spaces from sidewalks and roadways.