1826 Elm

2020 Winner – Building Architecture

Project Narrative

The Elm Street residence consists of the renovation of an existing abandoned row-house and new urban infill in an adjacent empty lot. The properties reside within a historic district with stringent guidelines that required negotiating the heights, rhythms of the adjacent 3 and 4 story buildings as well as the pedestrian character of the adjacent storefronts.

The West facing Elm Street facade has a custom-fabricated aluminum plate screen element at the street level that shifts parametrically -closed to provide privacy at the bottom and open to provide light at the top of the window wall. The screen was designed, fabricated, and installed by the Architect.

The new addiction features a large open space for kitchen and living, with a unifying wall of cabinetry on the North wall, and a generous courtyard on the East end of the site. The courtyard is lined with corten steel planter boxes and is defined by a large corten steel privacy wall on the East, an existing brick wall on the North, and a new plaster wall on the South extending from the interior space.

The existing building accommodates bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as a new open stair and elevator for aging-in-place. Two additional roof decks provide views over Findlay Market at the 2nd and 4th floors. The project received LEED Platinum certification.