Case Studies - Community Centers and Services

Sophisticated, modern in style, and convenient are the descriptors used for the rehabilitated Atlantic Permanent Apartments and D’Art Center in Norfolk, Virginia, illustrative words that equally applied when the former Atlantic Permanent Bank headquarters building was erected in 1954. Beyond preserving the sleek lines of Norfolk’s only international style building, designers from Work Program Architects introduced another timely title: floodproof.

The rehabilitation of this historic complex, including a church and two schools, provides new homes for a theater company, social justice organizations, dozens of micro-entrepreneurs, and a charter school. The tenants in the rehabilitated buildings and the services they provide created new jobs and draw visitors who have helped to revitalize the surrounding area.

Completed in 1920, the Pence Auto building is individually listed in the National Register as an outstanding example of an early 20th-century warehouse in Fargo, North Dakota. The ground floor was a car showroom, while the second and third floors were service and storage spaces. Over the years, the building was also used for a printing company and changes were made to the historic spaces.

After sitting vacant for a number of years, an innovative development initiative was undertaken to transform a historic school building into a mixed-use facility with a health care clinic on the second floor and eighteen apartments for seniors on the first and third levels.

The Blind Girls’ Home in St. Louis, Missouri, is an example of early 20th century institutional architecture and St. Louis’ first attempt to provide a communal home environment for disadvantaged blind women.