Rather than producing just another resort on the Gulf Coast, the developers of Bon Secour Village wanted to create a place that would be a true community made up of a diverse group of full-time residents and visitors. DPZ was hired to design a master plan for a compact, pedestrian-friendly town based on traditional planning principles. Situated on nearly 1,000 acres on the Intracoastal Waterway in Gulf Shores, Alabama, the site has ample space to accommodate the wide variety of building types, uses, lifestyles, and ages required to construct an authentic and vibrant new town.

At the heart of the community lies the marina, which is ideally located to serve as Bon Secour’s central square. Its scale is similar to that of the harbor in Portofino, Italy, and somewhat smaller than the town square at Seaside and the Piazza del Campo in Siena. Liner buildings hide parking garages and help to shape the space around the harbor. The tallest of the town’s buildings are concentrated in this most urban area, along with two towers marking the harbor.

Surrounding the marina is a dense network of streets and walkways, designed to serve both pedestrians and vehicles. The second phase may include an interconnected system of canals and a series of small greens and squares weaving throughout the site and culminating in an elegant, world-class golf course at the northwest corner of the town.

Each of the town’s neighborhoods has a neighborhood center with a pool, a corner store, a meeting hall, and a jitney bus stop, located within a 5-minute walking distance of most residents. Sites are reserved for an elementary and a middle school, and a small college existing on the site is integrated into the town fabric.

The primary inspiration for the architecture and building types comes from New Orleans. A full range of housing options will be available, including apartments, live-work units, townhouses, courtyard houses, and large single-family homes.

project tearsheet: 406 Kb PDF file