Blaisdell Pencil Factory Restoration
Read more about this year's 2023 Awards for Excellence finalist: 137 Berkley Street - Former Blaisdell Pencil Factory
2023 Awards for Excellence: Small Scale Category Finalist
Designed to provide affordable studio and office space for creative professionals, Kreate Hub Philly successfully rejuvenated the former Thomas Powers School, a 40,000-sf stone-clad schoolhouse that had sat empty for almost 10 years. The design prompt from Kreate Hub was relatively simple. At a targeted goal of $45-50/sf in renovation cost (which was met), the goal was to honor the building’s character while introducing the required programmatic components, along with a modern mechanical system.
Celebrating the building’s original details was the primary focus of the renovation, with care taken to reuse the original oak floors, pressed tin ceilings, arched hallway openings, and unique chalkboard-inlaid rolling partitions. With a plan that was bisected by 10-foot-wide corridors, the building featured a large multipurpose space on all three floors facing
Frankford Avenue that could be subdivided by massive rolling partitions, which hung from wide flanged beams, allowing the space to be broken into anywhere from one to five classrooms. A number of these panels were fixed in place, providing the demising wall between various studios. After more than a century of life, the floors had not only been worn down through occasional refinishing, but minor sagging along beam lines was visible. Rather than toothing in new red oak flooring, the owner was able to save money by purchasing a less expensive, pre-finished red oak product and planning off the finished surface to match the thickness of the existing floors, creating an impressive match. At the rear of the building where original intertwined “Boys” and “Girls” provided access from the classrooms to the school yard, a deck has been constructed, providing outdoor amenity area for the tenants of the building. Located in the center of the building’s U-shaped plan, in addition to proving a popular space for relaxation and the occasional programmed event, the deck is also part of the building’s accessibility strategy.
In addition to providing much needed studio space for the local artist community, Kreate Hub Philly’s hallways, lounges, co-working space, and café are all designed as galleries where shows and exhibitions can be mounted, giving the tenants opportunities to display, share and sell their work. The Owner’s goal was to return whatever savings could be achieved through efficient design and construction to the artists, as reduced rental fees. When Kreate Hub Philly opened in August of 2020, pre-leasing had already proven successful and by early spring of 2021, the building had reached 97% capacity. While Historic Tax Credits were not sought as part of the project, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 1986, significant time was devoted to considering how best to reuse the original red oak floors, pressed tin ceilings, arched openings, and slate chalkboard-inlaid rolling partitions.
Project Partners:
May 16, 2023
Read more about this year's 2023 Awards for Excellence finalist: 137 Berkley Street - Former Blaisdell Pencil Factory
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