How to Apply Adaptive Reuse to Public Buildings
/JA Principal Leah Wiiest and Partner Ray Johnston were recently interviewed by the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce about our process working with the City of Auburn to repurpose a historically landmarked Post Office into a new Arts & Culture Center for the community. With a subscription, you can read the entire article on the DJC website, and excerpts are below.
Historic Auburn Post Office to Become Center for Arts and Culture
A historic post office in Auburn will become the Auburn Arts and Culture Center, a space that will support community arts and culture in the region.
Johnston Architects is the architect for this novel adaptive re-use project and is working in partnership with the city of Auburn, the building owner. Construction is underway and the project is estimated to be completed in summer 2022. The general contractor is American West Construction.
The city of Auburn purchased the 8,000-square-foot post office in 2016. It was built in 1937 and opened the following year. Since its purchase, the city has been garnering input from the Auburn community about restoring the property and plans for the center.
“We are honored to help Auburn breathe new life into this wonderful building while providing a much-needed anchor for the evolving Auburn Arts District,” Ray Johnston, Founding Partner at Johnston Architects, added.
The Auburn post office building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. The exteriors are also designated a King County Landmark. This means they cannot be significantly altered or destroyed. The post office was originally designed by architects Louis A. Simon and James I. Barnes. It was built in a colonial revival style, which is reflected in the symmetrical façade of the building and its matching windows.
“There is a beautiful moment of surprise in the transition from the symmetrical formal exterior, through the original entry door, to the modern light-filled interior. The lightness of the new interior materials contrasts beautifully with the materiality of the heavy masonry building and its now-exposed, rather muscular steel structure.”
the historic auburn post office shortly after it was completed, in 1938
The landmarking gave Johnston Architects — a company with extensive experience working on historic libraries and community landmarks — an opportunity to experiment with a blend of old and new on the project. Exterior work focused on external restoration and the team turned inside for more dramatic design innovation.
ja rendering of the new arts & culture center interior, featuring gallery spaces
Many original features do however remain inside the building. These include terrazzo and maple hardwood flooring, wood slat ceilings, and repurposed and restored marble slabs.
During construction JA also uncovered a security vault in the middle of the space that was originally adjacent to the Postmaster's office. The architect decided to leave it in place with minimal intervention, so “its distinctive personality will live on as both an interesting design relic and a unique gallery display space.”
As with any adaptive re-use project, this one has not been without its surprises.
“It takes an inquisitive, patient, flexible approach for a designer to thrive in the adaptive reuse space. These project types always come with surprises that have cost, schedule and programmatic implications.”