Adaptive Reuse + Preservation
Adaptive Reuse +
Preservation Expertise
Re-purposing requires patience. We finesse new and old in ways that are subtle and transformative. Respectful of the existing structure, we definitively create contemporary architecture. Expanded segments and fresh uses are designed in sympathy with the existing context, yet they stand on their own. They are healing gestures that give new faces to battered facades, improve the function of fragmented plans and integrate peripheral spaces.
Bring new life and value
Since the early years of our practice, we have been active in helping to sustain the built legacy of our cities. Sometimes, our work takes the form of historical preservation, more often it is the adaptive reuse of the solid buildings that still have years of useful life. Whether the original property had significant cultural value or not, our work is finding the appropriate and preferred use that will bring new life and enhanced value to the building.
There are substantial, sustainable advantages to rehabilitating older structures. New construction is nearly always more expensive than existing building stock, and new construction is one the least environmentally friendly things we as human do. Then there is the social and cultural contribution that a re-purposed building makes —connecting us to our past by being part of our present. The work is part of the long tradition of building that preserves, adapts and constantly reinterprets architectural legacy in order to connect it in vital new ways to the contemporary community.
STIR Architecture’s Los Angeles location is a prime example of our adaptive reuse approach. The offices at 617 West 7th Street, are an entire floor of an historic 1920’s, 12-story building located in the burgeoning South Financial District that was once the headquarters of Union Oil. Preservation, adaptive reuse and revitalization have long been important components of the practice, so the choice of an historic property for our new home reflects the values of the firm. From efforts on projects like transformation of the 1929 Bullocks Wilshire into the Southwestern University School of Law Library and the renovation of the historic Felipe de Neve Branch Library, the ww understand the contribution that historic buildings and districts make to communities and are committed to being a part of that in Downtown LA.
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