This happens so much here that it’s almost comical: Mind-numbingly generic design is posted. People criticize it. Others say “iT’s BeTtEr tHAn WhAt’s ThEre!!!”
Yes, but almost anything would be. Why is it so bad to want more than the bare minimum for our city? Granted, I’m an architect, so I’d love to see something inspired, but that’s never an expectation. It’s not about ground-breaking innovative design; it’s about doing basic things like creating a distinct ground level (whether through set-back or material change), adding depth or texture to a facade, using materials other than brick or beige stucco. All of these are my biggest issues with this design, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask for a little bit of effort for urban buildings on limited prime property, which may be here for the rest of our lifetimes. Like… this building is generic almost to the point of parody, and it is not that way because of zoning restrictions. It is that way because of thoughtlessness, profit, or some combination of the two. Since you asked, here are a few apartment buildings in peer cities.
Kansas City
Charleston, SC. This is affordable housing for seniors, by the way.
Portland
Harrisburg, VA (in the works).
St. Louis
These are from a quick search; I’m sure I could find many better examples. But look at the variety! Do we have a single apartment building in Raleigh nearly as distinctive as any of these? Perhaps not yet, but there are great local examples of condo buildings in the works, like The Fairweather and The Bartlett (Durham). I hope we’ll get more. But I’m going to keep being a dick about designs that I think are poor quality, because I think Raleigh’s better than that.
Sorry for the rant… hope this helps you understand where I’m coming from.