The Vanguard

Targeting students and young professionals, The Vanguard bridges historic downtown Boise and the newer Central Addition neighborhood with seventy-five units of market rate housing. Visum Development, based in Ithaca, New York, chose Holst to design their first foray into the Boise Market, this new eight-story building that shares a block with the Basque Cultural Center. A series of systematic design choices respond to the context of downtown historic buildings, neighborhood edges, and downtown circulation patterns.

At the corner of the site, five-lane West Front Street begins to curve away from the building. The building’s geometry projects over the right-of-way along Front Street; café seating below takes advantage of the buffer from the busy road. Board-formed concrete planters create additional separation from the street.

The studio, one-, and two- bedroom units feature a neutral, modern palette of white, light wood, and concrete. The lobby serves a dual purpose as a study/workspace. Other amenities include plentiful bike parking, a ground floor pet spa, a community lounge, and a shared roof deck with fire pit and grill.