Developer David Adelman began to develop multifamily housing in the industrial River North area of San Antonio, but his investment group was at a loss as to how to turn the 1917 Hughes Plumbing Warehouse into a neighborhood amenity instead of a liability to their other holdings. When he connected with Overland, the opportunity matched the firm’s mission, and together we embarked on a mission to elevate the tenor of development in the River North area.

In Overland’s former offices, staff had been relegated to spaces with varying degrees of comfort and utility, and many felt increasingly insulated from the real transformation happening in San Antonio. The Hughes Warehouse space allowed the entire firm to office on one level. The open format allows light and ideas to flow freely across desks and aisles. Overland decided to reduce individual desk space in favor of public and meeting spaces of various sizes and privacy. These inspiring and versatile spaces encourage idea-sharing and collaboration to drive creativity on every level.

In keeping with the industrial aesthetic of the street, Overland preserved the brick and wood elements of the warehouse, as well as the concrete floors. The design team wanted to celebrate the raw nature of the space, while clearly communicating the atmosphere of a twenty-first century workplace.

The new elements of the design are primarily steel and glass, a clear juxtaposition of old and new. To bring in light to the formerly windowless space, Overland boldly proposed peeling back 1,200 square feet of roof to create a courtyard to be shared by the building’s tenants. The developer’s initial hesitation at losing leasable space was overcome by the significant value added by the common space, which has been used for live music, art exhibitions, and meetings. The old loading dock doors at the entry to the new courtyard speak to the ambition of the area as an arts corridor, with the new perforated steel gates patterned from an abstraction of a Jackson Pollack painting.

Functionally, the courtyard presented a series of challenges. The old building had very little lateral bracing, and removing the roof threatened the integrity of the structure. Overland created a custom floor-to-ceiling steel-framed glass wall to serve as lateral support, allowing ample light to flood the spaces.

The project also integrates sophisticated systems that optimize the building’s performance: shade control governed by the astronomical clock; automated lighting sensitive to occupancy and daylight levels; 65 kW solar panels on the insulated roof that meet about 50% of the building’s energy needs; and an HVAC system that allows individual control of each conference room. Incorporating these high-tech systems into a raw space required masterful organization to keep ducts, wiring, and hardware clean and orderly.

Materials were also repurposed wherever possible. Furniture from the previous office was remilled and reassembled to create workstations that support the open office plan. Timber salvaged from the roof and ceiling was repurposed as stair treads and for board-formed concrete poured onsite. Sections of otherwise unusable concrete floor became pavers in the alley, transforming a neglected zone into a vibrant outdoor meeting space.

Now, with a coffee shop tenant sharing the building, the Hughes Warehouse has become an anchor in Jones Avenue’s stunning renaissance. City leaders congregate at the coffee shop, arts events and festivals pass through the courtyard, and what was once a trickle of intrepid museum goers is now a torrent of citizens living, working, and playing on the banks of the San Antonio River.