The historic livery stable building in Monroe, Georgia was slated for demolition to make way for a new downtown parking lot when our client swooped in to save the building. It was in a state of severe disrepair with collapsed roofs and major structural damage. The new owners enlisted our expertise to document the building’s existing conditions and to create architectural and structural designs for its conversion into an event hall, outdoor courtyard, and commercial tenant space (welcome Southern Brewing Company!).
The Monroe Livery project utilized both Community Development Block Grants and historic preservation tax incentives. Arcollab aided consultants in preparing the reports, design drawings, and other supporting documentation for applications to these programs.
The design for the Wayfarer Music Hall in the Monroe Livery celebrates the rustic historic character of the masonry structure and its existing oversized sliding wood barn doors. These features remain prominent by keeping other alterations simple, clean, and as minimal as possible. New features include glass overhead garage doors connecting the event space to the interior courtyard, new inset entry vestibules, a bar, new restroom facilities, and a reconstructed roof structure in more than half of the building. Damaged structure was replaced with in-kind wood members and roof decking to the greatest extent possible, with steel and engineered wood beams added where required to meet current code.
The owners chose our firm in part for our dedication to sustainability. They shared this philosophy, and together we created a building utilizing high efficiency VRF mechanical systems, LED lighting, and local, recycled, and/or renewable materials to the greatest extent possible. We also created a rooftop garden where the owners will grow herbs and other edible plants. Other rooftop areas will support arrays of solar panels, resulting in a building that operates at net-zero energy efficiency. The solar panels were funded in part by additional grant money sought by the owner. Like our client, we believe that preservation of our historic resources is the most sustainable design strategy possible.
