Architectural Elements Show Value of Good Bones

DALLAS—The prevalence of reuse and renovation in Texas has furthered the growth of the local community and preserved important history. Perkins+Will has been involved numerous Texas projects that demonstrate this trend toward reimagining and reworking old buildings.

In the second of a two-part exclusive, Ron Stelmarski, design director for the Texas practice of Perkins+Will, recently discussed the challenges encountered and architectural gems discovered during the course of the redevelopment process.

GlobeSt.com: Was the repurpose of the General Tire manufacturing building a natural or was there a lot of remediation?

Stelmarski: When we started work on the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative project, the existing building was in the same state as the last day of operations for General Tire in the early 80s.

A lot of remediation was required. The entire building interior was covered in carbon black, the thing that makes tires black rather than brown.

There were many general equipment and structural modifications that had to be made to make the building ready for its new function. We had to remove some very large conveyor assemblies which bridged the first and second floors. We had to fill in some large manufacturing pits and demolish a huge steel warehouse building behind. We also remediated the steel building frame, adding major brace frames and totally replacing the steel roof deck, which was rotted away. We replaced all the exterior envelope.

Throughout the design process, the team worked to maintain the original, authentic history and identity of the original structure. It was a very important building to the community and very much worth re-purposing.

GlobeSt.com: What types of architectural gems were discovered when relocating your own offices to the 111-year-old Dallas High School?

Stelmarski: The column capitals inside the original auditorium were intact and now act as feature elements within the space. The preserved nature of the building helps describe how schools were thought of and used in the past. The beautiful formal entry to the building shows the pride in education that was offered students–and anyone–who walked through the doors. The auditorium at the center of the entire building highlights the sense of community that was intended to be fostered in the school. We have kept this space as the communal heart of our office.

Natural light and ventilation strategies confirmed the value of sustainable efforts we design in our 21st century projects. Understandably wide corridors have been maintained and continue to act as valuable social spaces. The high ceilings and abundance of glass have shown the value of a building with ‘good bones.’ These attributes offer resilience and flexibility for future, undetermined uses.