Bellows Falls Garage, Bellows Falls, Vt.

by Christopher Brinckerhoff | 15 April 2025 6:00 am

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Bellows Falls Garage, a mixed-use building with commercial and residential spaces, has a modern industrial design that celebrates the area’s history and provides occupants with views of the surrounding area. It was built at the juncture of a canal for major shipping on the Connecticut River.

gbArchitecture and Planning designed Bellows Falls Garage’s front facade to replicate the facade of the 1920s-era industrial building it replaced.

Diantha Korzun, principal architect at gbArchitecture, says, “The east side of the building includes a concrete re-interpretation of the original 1920s concrete garage. However, since we were required to add another story to the east side, to add enough apartments units to make the project feasible, we used a dark bronze metal panel above and stepped the story back so that it did not overtake the historic concrete structure. There was no metal in the original building; the original building was all concrete. We chose to use metal since it was reflective of the industrial buildings and bridges in the area.”

The project reused some of the original building’s components, including concrete slabs, footings, and retaining walls. Large multi-paned windows echo the building’s original design with modern building materials.

“At the north/south and west elevations, we used metal panels, which is reflective of the industrial buildings in the area,” Korzun says. “We tried to keep the essence of the original large parking garage openings by maintaining the head and sill heights at the windows and some of the very large openings.”

Construx Inc. installed 22-gauge Galvalume, 22 mm (0.875 in.) corrugated metal panels on the roof and walls of the first three floors of the four-story building. On the walls of the fourth floor, Construx installed 22-gauge steel, 406-mm (16-in.) wide flat metal panels in dark bronze.

The 2,961 m² (31,871 sf) mixed-use building has street-level commercial space and 27 mixed-income studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, including accessible units. There are also shared spaces, including a lobby, laundry room, and community/reading room.

Regarding views, the site is near a railway and large steel bridges crossing the Connecticut River. All rooms have ample daylight and views of the river; its locks, bridges, and canals; the mountains; and the surrounding downtown. The project won a Design AIAVT Excellence in Architectural Design Citation Award.

Owner: Windham and Windsor Housing Trust, Brattleboro, Vt.
General contractor: Dew Construction Corp., Williston, Vt., dewconstruction.com[2]
Architect: gbArchitecture and Planning, Burlington, Vt., gbarchitecture.com[3]
Installer: Construx Inc., Plymouth, N.H., construxinc.com[4]
Metal roof/wall panels: Western States Metal Roofing, Phoenix, westernstatesmetalroofing.com[5]

 

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/projects/office-mixed-use/bellows-falls-garage/

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