250south Adaptive Re-use
Rochester, New York
250 South Development
Winner of 2010 AIA New York State Adaptive Reuse
Citation for Design
World Architecture Festival 2010 - Barcelona, Spain - Participant
& Featured Project
Winner of 2009 AIA Rochester Design Excellence Award
Winner of 2009 NAOIP Upstate New York Commercial Development
Excellence Award
Located on the south edge of Rochester's Center City, a
one-hundred-year-old, three-story brick storage building stood in a
grouping of other underutilized warehouses. The last existing
component in the City's former public natatorium complex, it was
relegated to being a base for a large billboard, and had become a
forgotten building in the central business district.
Contributing to the Center City Master Plan to bring additional
housing into Downtown, the building was converted into mixed-use
with commercial space on the first and second floors, loft
apartments on the third floor, and a new fourth floor penthouse
apartment addition.
The capacity of the existing structure allowed the fourth floor
addition. This standing seam metal-clad wedge opens up to the
western views of the Genesee River and the new Douglass-Anthony
Bridge. It also serves as a crowning element consistent with
Downtown's landmark buildings. The new concrete masonry stair tower
addition was strategically located on the northeast corner to
maintain open floor plates and preserve important views.
The patina of the existing brick warehouse remains, telling the
story of its first century, while the juxtaposition of the new
additions reinforces the balanced contrast between old and new. The
use of honest materials - concrete, masonry, galvanized steel,
aluminum, and glass, is consistent with the palate of the city
skyline.