Infill construction in historic areas must be carefully designed to be compatible with the historic buildings surrounding it. The design of the new building should be similar in height, materials, and number and size of openings.

The height of new structures should be within 15% of the height of existing residences and interior floor lines should appear to be at levels similar to adjacent buildings (typically 2 or 2 stories in height with the first floor raised approximately 3' above grade). Buildings on concrete slabs are generally not appropriate in historic areas, where buildings were traditionally placed on raised masonry foundations. The facade should also be of similar horizontal proportion, vertical proportion and size to the original residences in the area.

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Materials: most St. Louis neighborhoods are predominantly brick. Unless there are many frame buildings in the area, new construction should have brick or brick veneer on visible facades. Foundations on these facades should be covered with stone or rough-faced concrete block to replicate the appearance of a limestone foundation.

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Windows, doors or other openings should occupy approximately the same amount of the front façade as the majority of buildings in the neighborhood.

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Details: Details of new designs should be similar to those of adjacent buildings. For example, if high-pitched roofs with dormers and entry porcheswere major elements of buildings in the neighborhood, a new infill building should have these elements also.

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