Creating Places: Belmont Close

As I decompress from the excitement of the Memphis vs. Oklahoma City NBA playoff battle, I offer a quick look at Belmont Close.

During the early construction stage of the residential building, located on Wedgewood Avenue and catty-corner from the Belmont University campus, I was concerned that the finished product would offer a hideous street presence. And though the building does contain some flaws and is painfully basic, it is at least a tad more attractive than I expected. For example, the two brick colors interact nicely. The thick base (looks like it might be split-face concrete block, a cheap substitute for stone) and pitched roof deliver a decent bottom and top sandwich for the mid-section, which — in addition to the cleanly contrasting colors — shows solid window-to-facade proportionality. Typically, I don't care for tiny front entrances with steps, but these are acceptable. I don't like the shutters, as they suggest (if you view them at close range) the type shutters found on rural homes.

In short, Belmont Close is very vanilla, with nothing distinctive about its form. But for this type design, I have seen far worse. Given that reality, any building that graded better than an F is a modest success.

Grade: C-minus

(Note: Thanks to local manmade environment enthusiast Ron Brewer for this photo.)