Adventures in Preservation

Adventures in Preservation

It has been really far too long since I’ve posted, which I blame on being wonderously busy.  4/1 has projects wrapped up and awaiting a photo shoot, ones in the final throes of punch list, a few in construction right this instant, and a long list of those in design.  With all the design work, most of the preservation tax credit work has been residential as well, but every so often a commercial, income-producing tax application pops up too.  And it’s then I get to go into spaces like this – so lovely and decrepit, I just had to share.

 

(I must admit, half the reason I got into this line of work was my fascination with these crumbling spaces.  It’s going to be amazing once it’s redone, of course, and is just dripping with potential – but all of this is gorgeous too.)

Enjoy springtime – and all the possibilities!

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hi.there@fouroverone.com   (919) 339-1411
Office Address: 1235 Berkeley Ave, Durham, NC, 27701
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 355, Durham NC, 27702

Breaking News

Breaking News

Just heard via the twittersphere that I won a Golden Leaf Award from the City of Durham for my former employers’ (Trinity Design/Build) office on Gregson Street.  It is one of the only commercial buildings I’ve ever designed, and through a lot of work between design, construction, and technology, it managed to make LEED Platinum, receive preservation tax credits, and now this!  Very cool to hear.

My workspace there was my favorite desk ever, crazy orange wall and all.

The official flyer from the Golden Leaf Awards – click for a more readable image.

Judge’s comments read: “Recognizing the simple visible efforts on a small scale goes a long way to demonstrating how any project can be done in a sustainable way.  What a wonderful new life for a ‘forgotten’ building.”

Book a Consult

hi.there@fouroverone.com   (919) 339-1411
Office Address: 1235 Berkeley Ave, Durham, NC, 27701
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 355, Durham NC, 27702

Preserving the Very-Recent Past

Preserving the Very-Recent Past

The original, sunken stoop was well on its way towards hazardous.

Two houses built in the 1970s have been in my thoughts recently, and are leading me to define my thoughts about preservation and importance.  The first is an architect-designed, Japanese-influenced, contemporary home where I was asked to design a replacement for the failing front brick stoop.  Because of a leaky water main, the stoop had slid down 5″ from its original location, leaving a treacherous, 9″ front step.  The owners (full disclosure: they’re family) wanted to add a railing where there had never been one, and wanted something that fit in with the original architecture and detailing.

The new, completed deck and railing.

For me, investigating the original, simple ornamentation was just sinking into a new architectural idiom.  It was obviously different from the 1920s Durham patterns, but also obviously present.  Finding a detail from the eaves, repeated in a slightly different scale to create a railing was a perfect solution, and much like sussing out the appropriate front porch pattern in a neighborhood.  With clear architectural merit, it does not matter how old this house is – it is important.

The other house? A late 1970s tract home set outside of town is the new home of a friend, who invited me over to give a little advice for their renovations.  This house doesn’t seem to have any distinguishing features and walks the dangerous line between cool-vintage and out-of-date-ugly.  In 20 years, it will be fully over the border into quaint and charming, but right now it’s… questionable.

1/2 Bath - can you say 1970's?

Not my friends’ bath, but might as well be… (thanks, flickr!)

Talking and walking through the house, we decided that it needed to be pushed towards the mid-century, and that the new owners will retain the pieces that already seem cool and not mourn the rest.  The new elements they bring in will try to play nice with the original features but not be slavish to the era either.  So while there are no distinctive elements, hopefully the house can be shepherded along towards importance – it’ll have to get there by making it through the years, not via some architectural design that set it apart from the beginning – but it will make it eventually.

Book a Consult

hi.there@fouroverone.com   (919) 339-1411
Office Address: 1235 Berkeley Ave, Durham, NC, 27701
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 355, Durham NC, 27702