ABOUT FACTORY 52

An exciting new development has opened in Norwood, Ohio.  The old US Playing Card site was mostly demolished to make room for Factory 52; a 20.52-acre mixed-use project that includes residential, retail, and office uses, as well as community gathering spaces.  The name, Factory 52, pays homage to the manufacturing facility that once stood on this site and the 52 cards found in a deck of playing cards.  Part of the original existing factory was transformed into a 3-story parking garage and a 4-story apartment building.  The original clock tower remains as a focal point of the development.

Viox & Viox was part of the overall design team which also included MSA Design (architecture) and MKSK (landscape architecture).  Viox & Viox provided surveying, civil design, and traffic study services for this project.  As with any project of this size, there were several innovative and creative design solutions that materialized.  There was no existing storm water detention or water quality systems on site, so all new systems was designed to meet City of Norwood and OEPA regulations.  The design team was also challenged by conflicting floor elevations within existing buildings, so the grades were lowered around the clock tower to create a pedestal effect.  Decorative steps and ramps were added to access the clocktower and alleviate these grade complications.

The center street of the development is a decorative, curbless road which provides an urban, walkable feel and connects all the outdoor elements of the entire development.  Once fully completed, Factory 52 will include approximately 400 residential units, breweries, shops, restaurants, a public market-food hall, a dog park, a large family park, a hotel, and an office building.

PLK is taking the environmental impact of the project very seriously by reusing materials whenever possible.  In fact, over 750,000 bricks were cleaned for re-use, over 250,000 feet of timber was salvaged for re-use, and over 20,000 cubic yards of concrete was recycled and crushed for fill and re-use.