Franklin Historic District Design Guidelines

DRAFT FRANKLIN HISTORIC DISTRICT DESIGN GUIDELINES 98 Civic Buildings New Civic Buildings Placement and Orientation • Place a civic building to allow for additional visual emphasis. Visual emphasis is typically achieved for civic buildings through the creation of a public plaza or gathering space in its foreground. Where greater setbacks may be appropriate to create visual emphasis, use the additional setback area for a landscaped open space, public gathering area, and/or pedestrian entry element. • Orient the main entrance to a civic building toward the street. Secondary entrances may be provided from parking areas or other service locations as needed. Building Form • Design a civic building by using defined base, middle, and cap divisions. • Design the height of new civic buildings to be consistent with the height of historic buildings in the district, which should not exceed two to three stories or be any taller than the commercial buildings on Main Street. • Design steeples, bell towers, and other typical civic appurtenances to be consistent with the height of those on historic civic buildings in the district. • Transition the height, massing, and scale of a new civic building by using the following methods: Use a building stepback of 20 feet from the stories below; divide the building into smaller parts to reduce effective visual bulk; set back a civic building that has larger massing or scale than surrounding buildings to prevent a looming presence. Additional setback is particularly important for a civic building in a residential context. New Civic Buildings