Charlotte Street Warehouse
Lancaster, PA

A feasibility study and subsequent schematic design were completed to explore the conversion of this late 19th century tobacco warehouse into a mixed use facility for retail, office and restaurant spaces. Issues of public access and visibility, critical to the success of potential tenants, were evaluated and balanced with the need to preserve the existing building fabric. The proposed design emphasizes distinctive features of the original construction with multi-story spaces to reveal the heavy timber structural grid and penetrations through existing masonry walls to expose their thickness and mass. Added elements, such as stairs and furnishings, are treated as interventions, and help to establish a dialogue between the existing building and new construction.