2023 American Residential Design Awards – Multi-Family

Adaptive reuse is the repurposing of buildings that have outlived their original purpose. Its main goals include preserving architectural and cultural heritage, transforming urban blight, and igniting social change. Yet these approaches share a goal of extending the useful life of buildings as societal and technological needs evolve."


This project was an adaptive re-use for a building slated to be razed. The local city officials did not want to see it demolished and offered the new owner some incentives to rehabilitate. The challenge was that the city wanted to turn the old 3 story mill into a retail/work/live space that would add somewhat affordable housing as well as become a sort of hub for businesses in a formerly decaying area of the city. We could not meet that expectation within the existing parameters of the building. Fortunately, because of the heights between floors I was able to suggest imploding the existing second and third floors which gave us the ability to add a fourth floor. That and a special use permit for height restriction also allowed us to add two penthouse suites on the existing roof for a total of five floors including a remodeled basement level for micro-offices, tenant laundry and storage. Three ADA adaptable units and full elevator access were part of the plans well. As of today, there are only two residential units out of the twenty created unleased, with a bubble tea shop and art gallery on the main level. It proved to be a successful project and city officials are extremely happy with the outcome.