Located on the second and third floors of the Carhartt Detroit flagship store at 5800 Cass Avenue, the Carhartt Workshop is a collaborative community space conceived as part of the 132-year-old apparel company’s ongoing efforts to support and serve the hardworking and skilled tradespeople of its Detroit hometown. Detroit-based McIntosh Poris Associates developed the design of the Workshop, which was directly informed by Carhartt’s core principles of integrity, perseverance, and hard work. Authenticity is central to the design, which bolsters Carhartt’s present story, history, and future.
McIntosh Poris Associates was responsible for the renovation and restoration of an existing 19th‐Century wood timber and masonry building into a modern office for Ford Motor Company’s self‐driving business unit. Originally planned for Buhl Sport Detroit, the building was purchased by Ford during construction to house Ford’s self‐driving business unit and attract fresh talent as part of the company’s commitment to enhancing Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. McIntosh Poris Associate’s design concept was to bring back the building’s original form and retain as much of the historic character as possible while meeting Ford’s requirements.
McIntosh Poris Associates designed the new location for Townhouse, on the ground level of Ally Detroit Center in downtown Detroit’s Financial District, incorporating the urban landscape with a touch of sophistication. The ground‐floor restaurant covers 7,484 square feet and features multiple experiences: a U‐shaped bar, a custom‐designed steel‐and‐glass atrium structure with operable roof and walls, a cozy whiskey lounge, and an outdoor patio enclosed by verdant planters. Interior spaces feature luxurious textures, including distressed leathers and rich woods, along with playful wall graphics for a distinctive environment. Color schemes of white, red, and black were used throughout for a cohesive brand identity.
Detroit School of Arts is a new building housing 1200 students. The public high school is located in the heart of Detroit’s cultural centre. The building opened in February of 2005, they chose a green design as it has been shown to raise student and staff performance. The building is designed so that spaces that benefit from daylighting are on the perimeter and the spaces not requiring daylighting are in the core of the building. Mostly recycled-content materials, low emitting materials and products manufactured within the region were chosen for the building. The project team also diverted almost 60% of the construction waste by weight, from landfills.
Detroit is a unique city in so many ways. It has a rich heritage but has perhaps more important in our view is its potential for embracing new ways of inhabiting spaces. Our goal was to bring the vibrancy and possibility back to the city in the form of a structure that brings together ingenuity and thoughtfulness to this site. We wanted to look forward to the promise of something re-imagined but also acknowledge what was there before and propose as part of the project a digital repository where citizens can contribute to the shared memories.
TechTown—an emerging knowledge district in Midtown Detroit—is currently characterized by surface parking, vacant properties, and inward-facing, siloed hubs of activity. The TechTown District Plan-articulates an inspiring vision for the revitalization of the district. Developed by Sasaki Associates in collaboration with Midtown Detroit Inc. and U3 Ventures,the plan accelerates innovation, promotes entrepreneurship, and builds community around the generation of ideas in a vibrant, mixed-use setting.
Awards:
2013 SCUP Excellence in Planning Merit Award
2013 BSLA Merit Award
Consultants:
Blaine Merker, Rebar Group Inc.
Mike Lydon, The Street Plans Collaborative
Anthony Townsend, Institute for the Future
Scott Page, Interface Studio
The Green Door Initiative, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice and the Southeast Michigan Sustainable Business Forum have partnered to develop the Detroit Sustainability Center (DSC), which envisions the resurgence of Detroit as a vibrant urban hub where all can thrive in environmental, economic and social health. The heart, pride and creativity of Detroit are the roots and catalyst for local and regional change.
The Thorn Apple Valley redevelopment is an analysis into the adaptive reuse of a collection of processing and manufacturing facilities for the future use of office space and distribution for an urban school district. The Support Services Center is an extreme renovation to a 170,000 s.f. structure which, over the life of the building, resulted in eight (8) separate additions with seven (7) varying floor heights throughout the facility.
The Detroit Public Schools Children’s Museum breathes a fresh experimental air into the process of public education. Blessed with a diverse and significant collection of cultural and historical artifacts, the museum ventures into a pioneering effort to teach children within a new pedagogical framework that is simultaneously classroom, interactive exhibit, and gallery. The new home for the museum, a notable object of Detroit history itself, is a former 1913 Detroit Edison substation in the New Center Area of Detroit, Michigan.
inFORM studio is a Woman-owned, WBE certified, design based practice with three offices in Detroit, Michigan, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and New York City. Each office is fully integrated and collaborates with teams set for each project that span all three locations. Formed in March 2000, Van Tine|Guthrie Studio of architecture quickly earned a reputation for the progressive work of the three principals, Michael L. Guthrie, Kenneth R. Van Tine, and Gina Van Tine.
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