Adaptive Reuse
Since 2008 Birmingham, AL has seen unprecedented growth, a development renaissance. Whereas many southern cities saw urban renewal decimate the existing building stock, Birmingham surprisingly did not suffer the consequences of urban renewal at the same rate. As a result, our existing turn of the century building stock is robust and useful. At a time when the building industry is responsible for most of the world's refuse, and new construction doesn’t always support the urban scale and proportion of our city and its streets, the argument for reuse makes good sense philosophically and financially.
We have a significant desire to foster the design and development of these existing buildings to support the character and quality of our city. We have documented and completed projects receiving Historic Tax Credit approval at the State and Federal levels while providing due diligence services to support a variety of programs from restaurant to mixed-use. Poole and Company has the unique experience and skills to design Adaptive Reuse projects requiring an understanding of existing buildings and their innate architectural, infrastructural, and jurisdictional and code compliance challenges.
Featured Projects
Bayleaf
Bayleaf restaurant is one of four food and beverage concepts making up the 5 Points Lane development. 5 Points in Birmingham, Al is known for its eclectic food scene. This 2700 sf Indian restaurant fits in perfectly. Adaptive reuse of an existing turn of the century masonry and heavy timber shell with restructured exterior storefront offers an easy view to the marigold inspired interior. Cost-effective off the shelf LED lighting is draped on a “whalebone” steel structure setting the tone for a casual modern dining experience.
Hood McPherson Building
Auburn University’s real estate office asked us to survey an existing a 6 story 36,000 square foot former furniture warehouse and showroom in downtown Birmingham. Auburn asked for programming and planning test options from two Birmingham firms. We attended programming meetings with a variety of potential university tenants including a new home for the School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture's Urban Design Studio program. We then developed a conceptual design and presented it to the potential tenants. As a result of our design presentation, we were selected by Auburn University to advance the ideas for a final presentation to University administration for approval of the building purchase. The building has since been purchased and we await the next steps for development.