Baltimore, Md.

The Mount Clare Yards of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad have several claims to fame. For generations, the Yards were a major Baltimore employer, and they were the starting point for the1830 race between the Tom Thumb and a horse-drawn carriage.

As railroad business decreased, the Yards’ importance as a piece of history rose. Part of the site is occupied by the popular B&O Railroad Museum, but a 25-acre portion was vacant. ASG designed a mixed-use complex connected to the historic roundhouse museum, featuring an urban shopping center, off-street parking and an office complex.

The retail sector is at the northwest corner and scaled to give the building an urban sense of place. Rather than constructing a strip mall visible to the busy eastbound thoroughfare into downtown, the shops face into the center of the site. This new construction is derived from the architecture of the site with a simple shed with clerestory lighting that extends two blocks and includes one of the largest steam-engine locomotives ever built. At the center is the super market and small bank.

While this project maintains the look and feel of its railroad inspiration, it also serves as that rare commodity – a practical urban shopping experience meant for the neighborhood as much as tourists.

Completion: 1987
Size: 300,000 gsf
Cost: $15 milliion