East Crossroads District Archives

Day 16

Today’s featured project is 1512 Holmes Street located in the East Crossroads District of Kansas City, MO. This adaptive reuse of a former transmission repair shop serves as the midwest headquarters of Pendulum.

This 5,000 SF interior accurately reflects the personality and interests of its owners who are automotive enthusiasts. There are subtle hints of the relationship between the building’s past use and its present inspiration throughout. The overall aesthetic of the interior revolves around a balance of raw materials with a consistent notion of refined edges.

Wall Mural By Dale Frommelt – Egg Design

Conference Room During Regular Hours

Conference Room Transformation

Typical Workstations

Finding innovative ways to customize elements within the design for multi-purpose and flexibility was a key component of the design challenge. Therefore the first-floor conference room table transforms into a billiards table that accommodates formal and informal hospitality. The second-floor east lounge acts as an informal living room and presentation space, while the second-floor west lounge is reserved for formal entertainment and board meetings with a restored 1920’s Koken barber chair as the centerpiece.

2nd Floor East Lounge

2nd Floor West Lounge

The preconceived notion of how a work environment is supposed to look, feel, and function is challenged by our space. Some believe that a business is supposed to be serious and efficient. In this case we are a bit more eclectic, the ultimate compliment is when people see the space and ask what we actually do for a living. “Is this an office, a bar, a billiards hall, an automotive shop, a speakeasy…do you get any work done?” The answer is yes to all of the above…this space represents a lifestyle that fosters creativity in contrast to a “bin for stacking people”.

Interesting Fact:

1512 Holmes Street was the recipient of the 2017 IIDA Kansas City Mid America Design Awards (MADA) Silver Award for Renovation & Restoration.

Shout out to Adri Guyer Photography on the snaps!

Just east of McGee Street in the East Crossroads District of Downtown Kansas City, MO, there’s a rich sub-culture of artists, craftsman and design professionals that have formed a consortium of sorts; banding together to support a budding design oriented community. At the forefront of this movement Rush Wade/2 Studios commissioned crossroads native and designer/fabricator Dale Frommelt of Egg Designs and Pendulum Studio to collaborate on the adaptive reuse of a very unique 12,000 square foot building located at 16th and Locust. The building consists of a 6,000 square foot barrel vault brick structure adjacent to an additional 6,000 square foot prefabricated metal structure with multiple slab elevations. The intended new use for the buildings will include an event space (“The Guild”), photography shooting floor, and office/studio space for Rush Wade/2. In addition to the existing building renovation, Pendulum, and Egg have started collaborating on plans to develop three adjacent lots across the alley on Cherry Street also owned by Rush Wade/2 that will be an “off-grid” outdoor green space and beer garden (“The Guild Gardens”).

Rush_Composite_SM — Early Composite Sketch - North Building

Section 482011_color — Early Section Concept - North Building

Rebirth of Cool…No Need To Build New

In response to questions about why they didn’t build a new building, Co-Owner Lindsey Rush stated: “There’s something really cool about an older building that has outlived its original purpose. There is a level of craftsmanship, detail and scale in old buildings that unfortunately is very rare these days, partly due to cost of materials, but also because current building codes make it almost impossible to replicate. The simple elegance of the bow-string trusses in our south building would be four times as large if we designed them from scratch today.”

While the vintage exterior facade and interior structure contribute to the overall character of the buildings, the material palette chosen by the Ownership group and design team that consists of reclaimed lumber, white subway tile, and exposed steel columns and beams creates an undeniable contrast between old and new. The angular geometries of the new interior program continues the contrasting dialogue and reflects the creative and forward thinking style of the Owners; simple, clean, and down to earth with an edge.

Construction is currently underway and set to be complete by October of this year. The images below document our progress with demolition – we’ll add more images as construction continues.