6 North Apartments
St. Louis, MO
Located in St. Louis’s Central West End, this building is the nation’s first large-scale apartment development to incorporate principles of universal design, which makes structures fully accessible to the disabled. Trivers Associates’ design responds to the site’s architectural context by embracing the massing, detailing and materials of the surrounding buildings. The design called for one material for the façade: brick with simple, elegant detailing. Simple brick relief at the base of the building provides a human scale that is both textural and contextual. The masonry craftsmanship of Marvin Peebles Masonry and the John J. Smith Masonry Co. is highlighted at the corner of the building, where the outside face of the brick is an extremely tight 9-ft radius. The bricklayers constructed the corner without the aid of special shaped brick, which hadn’t been specified. The result is a fluid corner that doesn’t appear segmental and blends from course to course – a real testament to the mason’s care and craftsmanship.