Grand River Public Space

A new restaurant building and park is situated along Grand River Avenue leading into the center of downtown Detroit. This urban revitalization project and new public space is being created to anchor the emerging neighborhood, spur economic development and provide a quality place for the community in the surging and vibrant downtown district. Central to its modern geometry are strong cantilevered roof forms gesturing towards the historic G.A.R. building and the park’s elliptical lawn, and a grand stair leading to a roof deck on axis with the historic Book Tower Building. Connections to the park landscape are further created with a green roof, and sliding glass walls that provide a flexible indoor outdoor floor plan that supports restaurant seating, a farmer’s market, musical performances and a community meeting room. Forms, systems, and details are evocative of the automotive legacy of Detroit.

Touloukian Touloukian Inc. is an award-winning architecture and urban design firm specializing in complex and diverse building types. Our work includes commercial, residential, cultural, institutional and historic projects ranging from new construction to adaptive re-use. We provide comprehensive design services from feasibility and permitting through construction administration to a range of clients including municipal and private entities, non-profit institutions, developers and individuals.

We are an office that promotes a reciprocal model of design practice with design education. Design excellence is at the core of our work. This commitment has been recognized with over fifty international, national and local design awards across thirteen different projects. Most recently, we were listed in Architect Magazine’s Architect 50 - top fifty firms in the country for both 2016 and 2017; and we were shortlisted for the 2017 Practice of the Year by World Architecture News (WAN).