Brae House – 55 St. Johns Avenue

Eriksson Engineering Associates, Ltd. (EEA) provided civil engineering, landscape architectural, and traffic study services for Brae House; a mixed-use, transit-oriented development located in Highland Park, directly across from the Braeside Metra Station. This three-story building replaces a one-story vacant convenience store and includes 13 luxury apartments along with 2,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space for the newly developed Braeside Market.

The design incorporates a “treehouse” concept, elevating the structure to integrate with the surrounding natural landscape, which includes a wooded area comprised of mature trees that were largely preserved for this project. The landscape architecture elements included screening and fencing designed to comply with permit requirements, addressing the proximity to single-family homes to the northeast.

From a civil engineering perspective, parking access is located beneath the upper levels of the building, with the parking lot geometry coordinated with structural design elements. The development also includes a public parklet in the existing wooded area at the intersection of St. Johns Avenue and Pierce Road, featuring a decomposed gravel path, seating, bike parking, and a bike maintenance facility.