Page 53 - ArchDC_Fall 2020

Shared kitchen and living space in an upper-level unit. Photo © Thomas Holdsworth

Photo © Living space with preserved architectural elements of the original church. Photo © Thomas Holdsworth
Thomas Holdsworth
four levels (three above-grade floors plus a cellar level). The design’s new load-bearing elements became
Each co-living unit is effectively a large apartment or the defining walls of the units’ service spaces. “The
group house, with six private bedrooms plus shared draftiness of the old structure was then eliminated
spaces. (On the top floor, one of the co-living units has with thermally improved exterior walls, low-E
four bedrooms rather than six, so as to free up space [low-solar-emissivity] glazing, and significant roof
for an outdoor deck.) The church’s tower was converted insulation” to meet current energy-efficiency standards.
into the building’s new stairway, and a new, accessible StudioMB “worked to restore the structure’s
entry was created at the tower’s base. damaged shell, as well as significant interior and
“The project balances a desire to retain significant exterior ornamentation, creating a tension between old
architectural features with the need to introduce and new details,” the firm said. “The result is a striking
residential uses into a monumentally scaled assembly balance further reinforced by the exterior’s light and
space,” the firm said. “This required reconfiguration dark palette, which helps differentiate the new slotted
and structural repairs of damage suffered during the windows and roof additions from the heavy masonry
2011 earthquake, as well as the insertion of two new of the original structure.”
floors, including a new uppermost level, into what The jurors deemed the building to be an exemplary
had been the exposed rafters of the assembly space. To adaptive reuse project with “clarity about what was
accomplish this, the roof ridge and primary structural new and what was existing,” noting that there were
elements were temporarily shored in place while several church conversions in the submittals, of which
existing balconies and structure were removed.” this one was exceptional in their opinion.

APARTMENT HUNTING 51