The Challenge
A 1924 warehouse converted to Class-A office while keeping the heavy timber-and-masonry structure that made it worth saving
The 1924 warehouse in Detroit had the kind of structural character that made it worth converting: exposed heavy timber, brick masonry bearing walls, and a raw industrial quality that Class-A tenants were willing to pay for. But the same elements that gave the building value also created the technical challenge. The timber and masonry had to carry modern floor loads, meet current code for occupancy and fire performance, and satisfy seismic demands the original building was never designed for. Strengthening selectively while keeping the structure fully exposed required more care than replacing it would have.
Our approach
We started with a thorough assessment of the existing timber and masonry, grading each element against modern load requirements and identifying the pieces that needed reinforcement versus those that could carry the new program without intervention. Selective strengthening kept the exposed structure intact where it could remain honest: where steel reinforcement was added, it was detailed to read as a repair rather than hidden as a substitute. The new lateral system was the most architecturally sensitive problem. We used the existing masonry walls as shear elements where they had capacity, supplementing with new steel bents sized to disappear behind the brick rather than read as an addition.
The outcome
The converted warehouse reads as original throughout: the heavy timber is exposed, the masonry is unclad, and nothing about the interior signals that the building has been structurally updated. It performs to current code in every respect, with a lateral system, floor loads, and fire performance that meet modern standards. The building leased at Class-A rates in a market where most Class-A product is new construction. Keeping the structure intact rather than replacing it turned out to be both the economically correct call and the architecturally correct one.
1924
Year built
95,000
sf converted
78%
Original structure retained
"They kept the character that made the building worth buying and quietly made it work to today's code."
Lisa Park, Principal, Kindle Development Group
