Downtown Loft

How does a modern sensibility allow an old structure to breathe again?

This project is a renovation of a structure built in 1843, one hundred and seventy-six years old at the time of its renovation in 2019, making it the oldest building on the Main Street pedestrian mall in Charlottesville. As found the technics of the existing structure were in sorry shape—structural framing, roofing, insulation, windows, mechanical systems, electrical systems and plumbing were all completely renewed to serve this structure well for another century or more.

Transparency through from front to back is a key design intention on both stories—a second-floor office space and a third-floor residence—giving visual access to the street trees in front, the play of sunlight in the back, and allowing multiple modes of direct and indirect natural lighting. A single cabinet “box” with hidden hardware and secret doors runs the length of both spaces, organizing and concealing services, storage, and bathrooms.

The ground-floor gallery remained open during construction and was not renovated but for its mechanical system, although new columns servicing the upper stories were threaded down from above through to the basement.