For use as a home and
business, these clients purchased the former downtown St. Petersburg Art
Center building, constructed in 1915. This 6,000 square foot 2-story
building was once home to a lumber warehouse. The 3,000 sq. ft. second
floor with 16 large windows provided abundant natural light and open
space. The ground floor became 3,000 sq. ft. of well-designed working
area with a new conference room, computer design stations, dark room,
shipping room, workshop and accessible bathroom. The major challenge was
satisfying the stringent Florida coastal and wind zone building code for
the 26 old windows throughout the structure. New windows that duplicated
the originals were ordered and extra strong wood frames were placed into
the brick openings using epoxy and steel rods. These kinds of projects
are becoming more popular as people begin moving their lives and
businesses back into the downtown areas of older cities and becoming
part of an urban renaissance.
National Award
