When Grow Interactive renovated their new office at 427 Granby Street in 2010, they performed one of the finest renovations the street has seen in recent years. At that time, Mel and Thom were still with other firms, and Peter was building their butcher block furniture out of his Granby Street workshop. This collaboration brings together a metric ton of mutual respect and great friendships while promising to do something tremendous for downtown Norfolk: the front portion of this new space will be designed as the premier gathering place in Downtown Norfolk for some lucky entrepreneur to use to launch a brand new business.
The 429 property has been vacant for many years and will be thoroughly gutted and rebuilt with offices and workspace for Grow in the rear, and a restaurant, complete with rooftop dining, occupying the front. The goal for the restaurant is to push the boundaries of facade permeability and customer-pedestrian interactivity in downtown.
Studies and the design process are ongoing, but we promise that this will be a space that helps to redefine Granby Street.
Jay Ford, of Shine and Rise Farms, was kind enough to bring his two baby goats by the WPA office, to the delight of everyone around. Sonny and Judy entertained the WPA staff, other tenants in the Monticello Arcade, and passersby on the street. This is why we love downtown!
See more pictures below.
The Monticello Place project continues! Based on responses to the original studies for this property, the Downtown Norfolk Council asked WPA to come up with a design for one tenant to occupy the entire ground floor and the basement. Individual vendor stalls line the storefront windows along Monticello Place providing an ever-changing scene for pedestrians walking by on this soon-to-be very active street that connects MacArthur Center mall with Granby Street and the future Urban Outfitters.
The basement becomes a multi-purpose space with stadium seating, retail areas, a performance space, and storage.
The design livens up the corner of Monticello and Market making for a more inviting conduit between the two main shopping areas in downtown. Decorative elements climb the exterior walls drawing the eyes of eager customers to the new entrance.
The PLOT construction is well underway now that the containers have arrived and been erected on site. Many thanks to Maersk Lines for coming through with some beautiful containers for this project! This was a critical first step so that the site work can get underway. It was an exciting three days of hoisting, welding, and filling the containers to be sure they are in a stable position. In addition to being an abstraction of the tower that we hope to see built on this site in the near future, these upright containers will serve as a visual anchor for the corner of the PLOT as well as the mounting location for much of the signage telling passersby that this is a place for them and how it came to be that way. Now that the containers are out of the way, the rest of the site is being graded, sawn, excavated, and replanted. There should be some great volunteer opportunities to build benches, paint planters, and plant plants starting at the beginning of May.
WPA’s sign for Satya Yoga was installed this week. We’re very proud of this sign and especially of the way that the stainless steel and teak wood blend in with Historic Freemason. The laser-cut stainless bracket spells out “Satya” in Sanskrit and is designed to be reminiscent of the Victorian brackets found on nearby buildings. The teak wood will naturally age to a dignified gray in time.
We now have a Facebook and Twitter account. Come check us out!
This progressive new education center, reminiscent of a common shed, will inform the public on both organic and sustainable methods of agriculture. Located in the Pungo area of Virginia Beach, VA, it is the result of a partnership between Community Development International and New Earth Farm, with pro bono help from Mark Schmidt and WPA. It features a seed-starting greenhouse, an open-air classroom, a built-in storage shed, a built-in pergola, and a rooftop garden that will grab the attention of passersby on the main road. These features will work together to form a simple and cohesive structure that is both functional and attractive.
-
- southwest view
-
- view at dusk
-
- southeast view
-
- northeast view
-
- east view
This is the third iteration of the Monticello Place Facade Study.
-
- street level
-
- front elevation
Centerpoint Properties approached WPA for help with visualization their plans of two warehouses: NEXCON and ACE Hardware. These are views from overhead.
-
- nexcom warehouse
-
- ace hardware
The PLOT: final approval GRANTED by Norfolk Planning Commission. Work Program Architects has taken a leadership role in the design and promotion process for this exciting pro bono project being championed by the Downtown Norfolk Council. Thom will be the speaker for their monthly member meeting in the large auditorium at Nauticus, next Wednesday morning, February 1st at 8am. Information can be found here. Please attend if you have interest in the project or would like to lend a helping hand.
presentation board