It is always challenging to make space when there is no obvious room. The task that Wright & Gray Architects was set was just that, and we rose to the challenge.
The perfect working tenant for a working building, AWF had a precise brief that included more m2 than the floorplate on its own would provide. By careful design we were able to squeeze a mezzanine floor below the existing truss line with enough head room to give them and the building Owner what they needed.
The back drop was the old Dobbins furniture building. We helped to redevelop the rustic interior with its tall wooden truss roof and windows, brick walls and structure. The building had also recently been strengthened appropriately showing off a grid of steel and concrete. These are real materials to be shown and not hidden. The old building used to be a working building and we wanted to keep the simple warm honest charm that brings to the senses.
The functional office design is a pure white insertion into the existing building fabric with a twist of industrial. It does not seek to merge falsely with the decor and so by contrast the old original charm is clearly separate, readable and understood. We believe this is good design, by acknowledging the building history, but also providing a new valued life for the building.
