“bringing life to public spaces”d284f45nftegze.cloudfront.net/kmok/k.mok_kbe mktg deck.pdf ·...

KBE/KARIN BACON ENTERPRISES INC.

“BRINGING LIFE TO PUBLIC SPACES”

www.kbenyc.com I [email protected] I 212-307-9641 I 311 W 43rd St., 13th Fl I New York, NY 10036


KBE

KBE collaborates with developers, architects, and urban planners on strategies for enlivening

public spaces, revitalizing existing ones, and envisioning new ones. Our approach integrates

program planning with public space management, financing, and design, so that the result is

not only a great place, but also one that works seamlessly.

Incorporating a broad range of programming—including signature celebrations, festivals,

passive and active recreation, sports events, public art, digital media, markets, seasonal

lighting, temporary structures, tours, and rental events—KBE develops programs for all seasons

of the year and various times of the day. Each of our activation plans is custom-designed to

meet our client’s vision and budget.

Our programming concepts are closely integrated with the physical characteristics of each

site and informed by the surrounding community, its traditions and history, with the goal of

enhancing the brand of a particular place. KBE can also help identify funding sources and

outline operating and management costs. Clients include the designers, public agencies, and

developers of mixed-use urban projects, parks, plazas, streets, waterfronts, piers, shopping

malls, and atriums.

WHAT GREAT PLACEMAKING CAN DO

KBE’s value is found in the results—ideas, plans and programs that:

• Develop new audience

• Build active communities

• Attract and retain high quality tenants

• Increase property values

• Reinforce brand identity

• Generate revenue


APPROACH

Our approach to making lively public spaces is holistic. We believe that all elements -

programming, management, design, permanent attractions, amenities, financing and

infrastructure - must work together effectively and efficiently. An activation plan that is

rooted in the community and resonates with the history and mythology of the surroundings will

capture and communicate the specific character of a place.

When KBE is involved in all stages of planning, the public space incorporates the infrastructure

to support a full, rich menu of festivals, markets, entertainment, sports, cultural events, civic art,

and recreational activities. Through thoughtful management, its value grows in human and

financial terms over time.

PUBLIC SPACE

INFRASTRUCTURE

PROGRAMMING

FINANCE AND SPONSORSHIP

ATTRACTIONS

DESIGN

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS

AMENITIES


PROCESS

• Identify a shared vision for the space.

• Develop strategies to achieve the vision.

• Determine the resources needed to implement the plan.

• Produce and manage the program.

OUR PROJECTS

• Custom designed for the physical characteristics of each location.

• Resonant with the character of each community.

• Tailored to the budgets and resources of our clients.

SERVICES

• Research: history, community, location

• Programplanning: entertainment, sports, culture, recreation

• Programinstallations: public art, digital media, public WIFI

• Programmanagementandoperations: administrative structure, staffing, financing

• Attractions: carousels, ice skating rinks, seasonal markets

• Useranalysis: local residents, workers, tourists

• Eventsiteplans: locate activities and installations, spatial analysis

• Environmentalenhancements: way-finding, projections, lighting, banners, flowers,

vendors, food kiosks

• Infrastructurespecifications: power, storage, restrooms, security, sound, staging

• Resourceidentification: personnel, talent, community

• Costestimates: programming, management

• Revenueandsponsorshiprecommendations

• Communityengagement: promotional materials, visioning workshops, presentations


LOCATION

San Francisco, CA

CLIENT

Transbay Powers

Authority

TEAM

Pelli Clarke Pelli

The Transbay Transit Center Project is a visionary transportation and housing project

that transforms downtown San Francisco and the San Francisco Bay Area’s regional

transportation system by creating a “Grand Central Station of the West” in the heart

of a new transit-friendly neighborhood. The $4 billion project will replace the current

Transbay Terminal at First and Mission streets in San Francisco with a modern regional

transit hub connecting eight Bay Area counties and the State of California through

11 transit systems: AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, Greyhound, Muni,

SamTrans, WestCAT Lynx, Amtrak, Paratransit and future High Speed Rail from San

Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim.

T R A N S B AY T R A N S I T C E N T E RC I T Y PA R K

BRINGING LIFE TO PUBLIC SPACES


LOCATION

Beale Street Landing

Memphis, TN

CLIENT

Riverfront Development

Corporation

TEAM

RTN Architects

Bounds and Gillespie

Architects

Beale Street Landing is a six-acre waterfront park at the foot of Beale Street, a

major tourist attraction, legendary for being where the blues was born. The unusual

design, featuring three plazas in the shape of guitar picks, elevated so as to meet the

demands of the rising water levels of the Mississippi, was created by RCN, winner of the

international design competition for Beale Street Landing.

Attracting people to a new waterfront location was the challenge given to KBE by

the Riverfront Development Corporation. After extensive interviews and workshops

with local residents and heads of Memphis cultural organizations, we have developed

an activation plan that combines informal daily activities with seasonal festivals

and special events. In addition, we are working out a management structure and

providing our client with an financial analysis and revenue projections for the project.

B E A L E S T R E E T L A N D I N G


LOCATION

Central Delaware

River Waterfront

Philadelphia, PA

CLIENT

Delware River

Waterfront Corporation

PLANNING TEAM

Cooper, Robertson

& Partners

Kieran Timberlake

Olin Partnership

Parsons Brinckerhoff

HR&A

The Central Delaware River Waterfront comprises a seven-mile stretch of the river from

Oregon Avenue on the South to Allegheny Avenue on the North with Penn’s Landing

roughly in the center. Nine neighborhoods border on the waterfront including some of

Philadelphia’s most historic areas. Dotted along this long swath of water are industrial

landmarks, parks, piers, new residential developments, a shopping center, a casino,

restaurants, and performance sites. Cooper Robertson is leading the team that

includes Olin Partnership landscape architects, Kieran Timberlake architects, and HR&A

economic advisors, entrusted with the task of designing the master plan.

KBE was brought on by Cooper Robertson to create an activation plan that integrates

well with their thinking about the physical plan. The programming concept that we

have laid out for parks, piers, plazas and trails aims to bring people to the waterfront

at different times of day and in all seasons of the year. The plan’s objectives are to

express the diverse aspects of Philadelphia’s unique history and contemporary culture;

to integrate major international destinations with multiple opportunities for individual

engagement on a local level; to make the connections to the neighborhoods and

historic districts along the sweep of the waterfront and from the Delaware River

waterfront to the water.

C E N T R A L D E L AWA R E R I V E RWAT E R F R O N T


LOCATION

Downtown

Washington, DC

CLIENT

Hines Archstone Smith

PLANNING TEAM

Norman Foster &

Partners

Gustafson Guthrie

Nichol Ltd.

William Jackson

Ewing Inc.

KBE was engaged by Hines to analyze the two primary public spaces of their mixed-

use development in the heart of Washington in order to determine how the park and

plaza could contribute to the vitality of the total project on a year-round basis.

We began by interviewing people from center city organizations as well as numerous

cultural organizations in order to understand their visions for the project and the

resources they could bring to it. We defined the target audience and potential uses

for the spaces. In collaboration with our clients and their architects, we refined these

ideas into a program plan. By locating the events on the existing architectural plans,

establishing infrastructure needs, outlining management structures, and making cost

estimates, we were able to demonstrate in concrete terms how the spaces would work

when the project is complete.

C I T Y C E N T E R D C



LOCATION

Kennet Square, PA

CLIENT

Longwood Gardens

TEAM

West8

Longwood Gardens was developed and designed by Pierre S. du Pont, (1870 – 1954)

industrialist, conservationist, farmer, designer, impresario, and philanthropist, using

the fortune from his family business. Du Pont established a foundation to manage

this magnificent botanical garden after his death so that his private estate could be

shared with the wider public. Few changes have been made to du Pont’s original

design, although Longwood Gardens has continued to grow and some facilities have

been added. The landscape architecture firm West 8 has been hired to re-envision the

spaces and the linkage between them and to create a much-needed master plan.

KBE was engaged by West 8 to evaluate the programs of art and entertainment that

Longwood Gardens hosts currently and to assist them in shaping a more effective

activation plan. Pierre du Pont saw the Gardens as a form of theater, so the

integration of performances and events with the natural setting has existed from

the beginning. Part of the work of KBE was to analyze the physical spaces as well

as the open-air theater for the purpose of mapping a series of both outdoor and

indoor places throughout the garden that could support a range of large and small

performances and activities.

L O N G W O O D G A R D E N S



LOCATION

East River Waterfront

New York, NY

CLIENT

NYC Economic

Development

Corporation

PLANNING TEAM

SHoP Architects

BAE Economics

HDR Inc. Engineers

The New York City Economic Development Corporation was interested in the potential

for the public spaces of the East River Esplanade to generate revenue. They also

wanted to know what infrastructure should be included before the plans were finalized,

Based on the physical design of the piers and the Esplanade, as well as the character

of the surrounding areas, KBE made recommendations regarding commercial uses.

We also suggested live programming concepts, environmental enhancements, public

art, and management techniques that would work to enliven the spaces on an

annual basis and continue to its long range value. We created site plans indicating

infrastructure requirements to support various kinds of programming.

E A S T R I V E R WAT E R F R O N T


LOCATION

South West Waterfront

Washington, DC

CLIENT

Hoffman-Struever

Waterfront LLC

PLANNING TEAM

Ehrenkrantz Eckstut

Kuhn Architects

Matthews Neilsen

Landscape

Architecture

Hoffman-Struever Waterfront LLC is developing a mixed-use project on a prime

downtown section of the waterfront in Washington, DC. As a member of their planning

team, KBE was engaged to assist them in evaluating their participation in the National

Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington DC’s signature celebration.

We suggested various ways in which the festival could promote their property and

recommended that they claim the fireworks, the focal event of the National Cherry

Blossom Festival, by becoming its primary sponsor. They continue to take a major

sponsorship role in the festival

S O U T H W E S T WAT E R F R O N T


LOCATION

Water Street

New York City

CLIENT

Starr Whitehouse/

Alliance for Downtown

New York

PLANNING TEAM

Starr Whitehouse

FXFowle

L’Observatoire

Sylvia Harris

KBE was a member of the planning team lead by Starr Whitehouse to study and re-imagine

Water Street and the immediate area from Fulton Street to the Battery. Water Street

comprises a unique multiplicity of large and small public spaces, but is currently lacking

in the comfort and charm that would entice people to seek it out and spend their leisure

time enjoying it. The goal of the Downtown Alliance that commissioned the study, was to

improve the pedestrian experience, attract retail, and increase the appeal of the street to

potential business and residential tenants.

KBE designed an ongoing program of events, markets, and visual arts, both temporary

and permanent installations, which would engage the various user groups including office

workers, residents, and tourists. In order to create a new and vibrant identity for Water

Street we conceptualized a unique signature celebration, the Water Street Festival of Light

and New Media, and demonstrated the many ways in which Water Street’s dark arcades

and blank building facades could be illuminated. We also developed ideas for managing

and implementing the activation plan and phasing it in over time.

WAT E R S T R E E T



LOCATION

South East Federal

Center

Washington, DC

CLIENT

Forest City

Washington

PLANNING TEAM

M Paul Friedberg

Partners

SMWM Architects

Gensler

CommArts

Balmori Associates

Robert A.M. Stern

Architects

KBE was a member of Forest City Washington’s team of architects and urban planners

that developed the bid for a new mixed-use project on the Anacostia River. KBE

designed a year-round calendar of activities for the green space, plazas, streets and

waterfront that contributed to the vision of a lively, successful place and winning the

bid.

After the bid was won, KBE refined the concepts and provided the architects with site

plans, locations, dimensions, and infrastructure for uses such as signature celebrations,

markets, an ice-skating rink, concerts, and film showings.

From 2004 until the present, we have continued to consult on programming, financing

and managing the common spaces of the project now known as The Yards.

T H E YA R D S AT S O U T H E A S TF E D E R A L C E N T E R


LOCATION

Riverwalk

Fort Lauderdale, FL

CLIENT

Beyer Blinder Belle

City of Fort Lauderdale

PLANNING TEAM

Beyer Blinder Belle

Rodeside and Harwell

Raymond Jungles, Inc.

Webb Management

Service, Inc.

The Ft. Lauderdale Riverwalk is a mile long waterfront esplanade in downtown Fort

Lauderdale connecting three city parks, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the

Museum of Science and Discovery, the Museum of Art, as well as entertainment and retail

facilities.

KBE worked with the landscape architects and urban planners to identify destinations

along the river and recommend activities for each one as well as river-wide celebrations

that would unite the whole.

Our research involved interviewing community volunteers, arts organizations, and business

stakeholders. In addition to describing and illustrating live programming such as festivals,

entertainment, and site activities, we provided precedent images of visual arts installations

appropriate for various sites. We advised on how to manage and finance the activation of

the Riverwalk at various times of day in all seasons of the year.

F O R T L A U D E R D A L E R I V E R WA L K


Karin Bacon, President KBE/Team Leader

Karin Bacon established her company in

1981 bringing to the specialty of public

space activation, many years of experi-

ence producing innovative events and the

ability to think on an urban scale. She has

created civic celebrations, retail promo-

tions, exhibitions, fashion shows, corporate

events, and family festivals for cities, com-

panies, and cultural institutions throughout

the United States and abroad.

As a consultant on enlivening public plac-

es, she draws on her research in the design

of traditional festivals as well as the use of

streets and plazas internationally. Her team

includes resource people with the diverse

talents needed to fulfill the opportunities

of each project and reinforce its unique

identity.

OUR TEAM

• Multidisciplinary

• Holistic thinkers

• Practical experience in the field

• Creative problem solvers

• LEED accredited

• WBE certified

www.kbenyc.com I [email protected] I 212-307-9641 I 311 W 43rd St., 13th Fl I New York, NY 10036

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