The Village at Technology Hill was again on the agenda at a special Aug. 22 meeting as the Londonderry Heritage Commission continued their July hearing of a design review for the massive planned use development at 5 Kitty Hawk Landing.
“Relative to the comments we’ve received: shingles roofs rather than standing seam metal when feasible, softer earth tone pallet for residential buildings is recommended, details for widows and window treatments, a signage plan, and an enclosed school bus stop is recommended,” outlined Engineer, Nick Golan, from TFMoran.
As the meeting focused more on the retail and childcare sections of the Village, not every recommendation could immediately be addressed. Others, like signage, were not expected until a later stage of the project, partially due to a lack of knowledge of who every tenant would be. However, a new design for a school bus stop near the childcare facility was added to the most recent redesign.
“We have a bus enclosure that currently measures ten-by-five, and a rebuilt sidewalk,” said Golan. “One of the things this bus stop did is to really facilitate better pedestrian movements throughout the facility.”
The bus stop included a glass enclosure on three sides, something members of the Commission wanted.
The biggest thing we wanted to touch on was color and material,” said Project Architect Tony Nazaka from Stone River Architects while showing off a picture of some of the newly proposed building material to members of the Commission. “The stone base is typical throughout the Village. This is as real looking stone as you can get these days and as durable as real looking stone as you can get these days without having the install cost of real stone.”
Composite wood was chosen as a roofing material, with attention given to material that would not require as much maintenance. Nazaka emphasized that his goal was to aim for a “typical New England feel” whenever possible, including childcare facilities.
“The childcare will have a more traditional window look,” he explained. “It’s a vinyl clad wood, you’ve got good thermal properties and it’s going to last.”
The widows on every building will be double-paned for efficiency.
“Are the representations on the rendering pretty close to what you think the light design will be?” asked Chair Krys Kenney.
Nazaka emphasized that the renders would not be perfect due to the limitations of traditional windows, and lighting could be a little different.
“Is there an enclosed yard for the kids?” asked Alternate member Jim Butler.
He was assured the design would include a yard.
The Heritage Commission voted to approve the redesigns for the retail and childcare portions of the Technology Hill project to the Planning Board, noting they still wanted to greenlight the signage at a later date. Further approval is required on the residential and manufacturing elements of the complex.
“We’re essentially hoping to make a submittal every month, until we’re done,” said Golan. “It’s a lot of work.”