Project spotlight: delo

DeLo, or Downtown East Louisville, is a transformative $60 million, 12-acre redevelopment of a former industrial site into mixed-use neighborhood that includes 130 apartment homes, 30,000 square feet of office and retail/restaurant space, 60 townhomes, a community plaza and park area, new public parking, and a pedestrian gateway that links the community to Historic Downtown Louisville. In the design of DeLo, our team borrowed from a Dutch design strategy called Woonerf to create a curbless streetscape. This uncommon flat interface between street and sidewalk gives equal priority to all modes of transportation—vehicular, foot, bicycle, and wheeled. The idea is that the curbless environment necessitates eye-contact interaction between motorists and pedestrians rather than relying on physical delineations of street and sidewalk, signage, or traffic rules—raising the spatial awareness of all users and creating a space that encourages human interactions.