Mauka Area Form-Based Code

Torti Gallas led the planning process to create a Form Based Code and aTIM® Process (Town Information Modeling®) for a major area of Honolulu
between downtown and Waikiki.

A series of public and strategic stakeholder meetings helped guide the process to create a Form Based Code that thoughtfully synthesized the goals and policies in the community’s Master Plan.  The Form Based Code for the 400 acre area includes Development Standards for seven neighborhoods with different character and form.  The Code preserves the idiosyncrasies of the individual neighborhoods, while introducing Build-to Lines to organize the street, and a series of permitted Building and Frontage Types to capture the spirit of each neighborhood and of Hawaii.  View corridors in the Code preserve Mauka / Makai views - from the mountains to the ocean-  through strategic setbacks, siting of building voids, and landscaping strategies.  The Code regulates both the private and the public frontage through a Pedestrian Zone theon the space between the face of the building and the curb.Sustainable development and progressive parking standards are included, and through the Code’s Large Lots and Subdivision section, large blocks are broken up with pedestrian passageways and restrictions on building and block sizes.

Our proprietary TIM® Process was an integral part of the Mauka planning process, used to verify the Code and to assemble model elements, including building and land-use area, FAR, and other relevant data.  The model depicts existing and proposed build out and serves as an ongoing planning tool for the Hawaii Community Development Authority to test future development scenarios.  The 3-D model depicts the study area and surroundings, including the nearby harbor, crater and mountains.The model includes over 40 million SF of existing and proposed build-out land use conditions with a schedule of related data that is linked by land use to each block in the planning area.