---
title: "Building Fronts (122)"
created: 2026-07-01
updated: 2026-07-01
type: concept
status: compiled
namespace: pattern-language
pattern_number: 122
pattern_name: "Building Fronts"
source_repository: https://github.com/zenodotus280/apl-md
source_url: https://github.com/zenodotus280/apl-md/blob/master/Patterns/Building%20Fronts%20%28122%29.md
license_note: Non-commercial reuse with attribution; see namespace README and source LICENSE.md.
related_patterns:
  - "Building Complex (95)"
  - "Wings of Light (107)"
  - "Positive Outdoor Space (106)"
  - "Arcades (119)"
  - "Path Shape (121)"
  - "Activity Pockets (124)"
  - "Building Edge (160)"
  - "Private Terrace on the Street (140)"
  - "Gallery Surround (166)"
  - "Stair Seats (125)"
  - "Open Stairs (158)"
  - "Street Windows (164)"
  - "Opening to the Street (165)"
  - "Front Door Bench (242)"
---

# Building Fronts (122)

> Source pattern from the abridged `apl-md` corpus. Use as a design reference and constraint seed; do not treat as commercial-clean training data.

### Problem
>Building set-backs from the street, originally invented to protect the public welfare by giving every building light and air, have actually helped greatly to destroy the street as a social space.

### Solution
>On no account allow set-backs between streets or paths or public open land the the buildings which front on them. The set-backs do nothing valuable and almost always destroy the value of the open areas between the buildings. Build right up to the paths; change the laws in all communities where obsolete by-laws make this impossible. And let the building fronts take on slightly uneven angles as they accommodate to the shape of the street.

### Related Patterns
... this pattern helps to shape the paths and buildings simultaneously; and so completes [[Building Complex (95)]], [[Wings of Light (107)]], [[Positive Outdoor Space (106)]], [[Arcades (119)]], [[Path Shape (121)]], and also [[Activity Pockets (124)]].

Detail the fronts of buildings, indeed the whole building perimeter, according to the pattern [[Building Edge (160)]]. If some outdoor space is needed at the front of the building, make it part of the street life by making it a [[Private Terrace on the Street (140)]] or [[Gallery Surround (166)]]; and give the building many openings onto the street - [[Stair Seats (125)]], [[Open Stairs (158)]], [[Street Windows (164)]], [[Opening to the Street (165)]], [[Front Door Bench (242)]] ...

---

> [!cite]- Alexander, Christopher. _A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction_. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 593.
> #APL/confidence/medium
>
> #APL/Building-Patterns/Between-the-Buildings