Context Design was commissioned by the Town of Plainfield to study how reinvestment in Plainfield’s downtown core could spur economic development while retaining the historic fabric of the town over the coming decade.

The design team executed an 11-month process of inventory and analysis, schematic design, community engagement, design visioning, and infrastructure planning in concert with Town leadership.

The final booklet and deliverables established proper scale, materiality, character, and density for various phases of public and private reinvestment. The next steps include economic modeling and the establishment of zoning overlay standards.

Context Design Role: Lead Consultant and Master Planning

Context Design led the design team and worked with the Yorktown Redevelopment Commission to create a Downtown Redevelopment Plan with clear goals, exciting program elements, buildable design direction, realistic budgets, and implementation strategies. The key components of the plan included live, work, and play strategies to increase the quality of life and population in the downtown core.

The town is seeing this plan come to fruition as they continue to walk through the implementation and action steps detailed in the plan for a revitalized downtown.

Context Design Role: Lead Consultant and Master Planning

Context was commissioned by the Town of Fishers to develop a transformative, vibrant “downtown district” of restaurants, retail, personal service businesses, co-working space, entertainment venues, and municipal services in an identifiable core. Now 12 years since the Vision Plan and Form-based Code were authored and the first public-private partnership agreement was inked, the Nickel Plate District has outpaced even the most ambitious forecasts, achieving at its 7-year mark what economic models predicted would take 15 years or more to achieve. More than $800m of private-sector reinvestment has been leveraged through following the “playbook” of density, placemaking, connectivity, and scale authored by Context Design alongside city leaders and elected officials.

Context Design Role: Lead Consultant and Master Planning

Collaborators: Land Design

‘The Yard’ is a 17-acre, $110 million mixed-used campus with retail, hospitality, luxury apartments, and offices centered around a unique culinary-themed destination development on the northeast side of Indianapolis.

The campus supports 260 residential units, a 220-room Hyatt branded hotel, 100,000 square feet of retail space, and numerous restaurants and test kitchens to inspire and incubate the development of master chefs in the region. Context Design collaborated with Thompson Thrift on master planning through construction implementation, including execution of all outdoor features, plazas, terraces, and streetscapes.

Context Design Role: Lead Consultant and Master Planning

Our team is dedicated to casting visionary, effective, and successful plans based on real-world experience. While a compelling design vision is crucial for every planning endeavor, the foundation of success lies in robust research and the application of economic development principles, coupled with exceptional intentional public engagement and exceptional technical execution.

Selected Planning Experience:

• Anson Community Development Guidelines / Whitestown, IN
• Anson Community Placemaking / Whitestown, IN
• Avant at Old Meridian / Carmel, IN
• Batesville Preliminary Land Planning / Batesville, IN
• Butler University Gateway Master Plan / Indianapolis, IN
• Brownsburg Downtown / Brownsburg, IN
• Eddy Street Commons / South Bend, IN
• Elevate Valpo / Valparaiso, IN
• Fortville TIF District / Fortville, IN
• McCordsville Town Center / McCordsville, IN
• Noblesville Streetscape Master Plan / Noblesville, IN
• Plainfield Downtown Redevelopment / Plainfield, IN
• Purdue Research Park Master Plan / Merrillville, IN
• Wheeler Development / Westfield, IN
• Yorktown Downtown Redevelopment / Yorktown, IN