Photo: Skysight Photography
To transform a warehouse building into an eye-catching retail building, lee CALISTI architecture+design designed the exterior with horizontal standing seam and ribbed metal panels. The renovation converted the building at 212 E. Pittsburgh St. to 10,000 square feet of retail spaces for Flat Tire Co. bike shop, Wellness On The Point Chiropractor and Holistic Center, and North American Karate and Fitness. Entrances have floating aluminum signboards. The lower level has a similar treatment to accentuate the bicycle shop. The street level has the chiropractors’ offices and karate studio.
Lee Calisti, AIA, of lee CALISTI architecture+design, says, “The building had multiple uses over the years, and was most recently a warehouse for selling furniture. The goal was to transform it into a multi-tenant facility that was a dynamic anchor near the intersection of two major east-west arteries through downtown Greensburg. To achieve this goal, the building needed a strong identity that would attract prospective tenants and give them a signature facility that they would seek to identify with in their business. By primarily using a horizontal panel, the strong lines responded to the energy and movement of the street. The owner needed a material that was light and easy to install. We sought a no-maintenance material that lent itself to crisp details and powerful corners. The dark bronze color gives the building a graphic, stealth presence that secretly harkens back to its original use as a car dealership in the 1930s.”
Calisti says many speculative commercial tenant buildings appear symmetrical and repetitive; designers often don’t know what businesses will occupy them. “Our concept breaks the symmetricaltemptation, offering the west and east sides a separate identity as the new façade elements manifest themselves slightly differently with special attention given to the east entrance as the most prominent corner,” he says. “This is the prominent corner seen while traveling west on Pittsburgh Street through downtown Greensburg. The former corrugated metal siding has been updated with new metal cladding that acknowledges the horizontal movement of the local context.”
To complete the project, Nick Butts Specialty Roofing installed 1,150 square feet of ATAS International Inc.’s Multi-Purpose panels in Classic Bronze. Nick Butts Specialty Roofing installed 200 square feet of ATAS’ Metafor panels in Titanium. Standard & Custom LLC fabricated custom aluminum railings, decorative channels and signage.
“The lightweight material is easily installed high off the street over metal stud and plywood backing as it hovers over the largely glass storefront below,” says Calisti. “The color also blends well with the existing brick and new aluminum storefront framing and allows the tenants’ signage and colors to stand out. Window replacement and a new storefront and doors add to the contemporary and energy-saving appearance contrasting the existing industrial red brick.”
