◄►

Rotunda Lofts
Client: Rotunda, LLC

93,126 sf :: $12,350,000
2008 HRACRE Award of Excellence - Best Multi-Family
The Rotunda on St. Paul’s Boulevard is an adaptive reuse of an
existing 1964 nonfunctional, commercial office building into a
thriving, urban-loft style, 66 unit residential condominium. This
transformation has allowed the Rotunda to become one of the
most prominent contributing structures within the city’s urban
fabric and is now touted by the Mayor as “an example of what
is good” in downtown Norfolk’s Redevelopment Renaissance.
Collectively, the odd, round building geometry, poor proportions
and lack of architectural order and detail made this an unpopular
neighbor doomed for demolition. Fortunately, the design and
development team shared a different vision than most and
collaborated to change this eye sore into a high performing/
contributing piece of urban residential architecture.
The conversion design approach began with a detailed building
code analysis and structural evaluation. The developer’s project
pro-forma goals became opportunities for the architect to
expand the building footprint diameter, increase the building
height and develop a new three part language on the exterior
façade with balanced proportions. A ninth floor and roof was
introduced on top of the existing concrete roof deck. This
additional floor engulfs the old mechanical room and now
offers “top of building” glass-clad living space and views for
the two story penthouse units.