Recycled Architecture

What in the world is recycled architecture? Have you ever drove down the road and saw an old building just sitting there vacant and barren? Unfortunately this has been happening more and more these days across the country from main street to the suburbs. Structures built in the prime for uses that are no longer appealing to the consumer or potential tenant to house their businesses. It might have been a restaurant at one time or even a retail store. Now it sits empty waiting for nature to slowly erode away at the structure and eventually leaving nothing else to do but scrape and rebuild.

This seems wasteful. Isn't there something else we could possibly do? Sure there is recycle the building. Over the last few years IONIC has been asked more and more to do "renovations" to existing structures. It is pretty common to but a new facade onto a fast food restaurant or update the entrance to a retail complex.  We have been involved in our fair share of those projects with great success. But that isn't what we are talking about when we mention RECYCLE.

We are talking about taking an existing structure intended for one use and re-purposing it for another. If it was a retail facility, it becomes a library.  If it was a day old bakery, it becomes a restaurant. In our economic fabric these days, as a consumer we want to go and use brand new facilities.  As a wise tenant, we demand better facilities to house our businesses. After all, an attractive facility often times relates to more business which means a stronger business and financially stronger. It is just what is expected.

Before Exterior

At IONIC we took an old shopping center near main street in Gloucester that was nearly 80% vacant and re purposed the structure with new uses. The vacant 22,000 square foot grocery store became the new county library. The 36,000 square foot vacate department store now houses multiple small offices and businesses within it's new interiors.

Before Interior

Recycled Interior

Recycled After



Before

IONIC's team of designers and architects worked with a group of contractors to transform a vacate day old bakery structure into the popular biker themed restaurant in Virginia Beach Knucklehead Roadhouse. Keeping most of the structure in place the interiors were massive transformations while the exterior was altered enough to accommodate the new use.  In this case by adding an exterior dining patio.

Recycled After



Before

Some times more of the structure is modified leaving little recognition of what remained previously. Currently near completion in the city of the busiest part of Virginia Beach lies Town Center Crossing. You remember the old Fuddrucker's restaurant? Yep they had some great hamburgers. Unfortunately every time I visited for lunch I was the one of only a few there. Now the site hosts 15,000 square feet of new retail and seeks becoming the first LEED Certified Retail project in Virginia Beach. Over 80% of the existing restaurant structure was maintained while there was an addition incorporated into the design as well.


Recycled After

One of the most necessary changes was the conversion of a former funeral home into a small office complex. The obvious need to change the perception of the former wooden structure to something that never reminded anyone that there once was a funeral parlor where your conference room now exists. We added the necessary expansion, dormers for natural lighting and a vertical circulation tower house the stairs and the elevator shaft. Even though the owner and builder didn't necessarily follow all of our recommendations, including colors, it was certainly a massive change  and recycled project.

Before

Before

Recycled Version.....not entirely what owner built

Should you find yourself needing some recycling of your existing facilities, please contact Ionic DeZign Studios for some ideas and concepts.  Real Estate Brokers, let us help your clients obtain new leases with a new re purposed facility. www.ionicdezigns.com