HOLT: A West End Home Architecture firm excited by resurgence of the neighborhood By Josh Brokaw
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fter 30-plus years on Aurora Street, by the end of March HOLT Architects will be moving their operations to a new location on West State Street. HOLT will own their new headquarters at 619 W. State St., a building which once was Cramer’s Auto Parts, and most recently housed Renovus Solar. According to HOLT president Graham Gillespie, once renovations to the building are complete, the architects’ office will be a space that meets net-zero energy requirements, with enough power generated by photovoltaic solar panels on the roof to offset the needs of the office. “It’s a simple block building, so we’re adding some insulation and doing other technological improvements,” Gillespie said. “We’re putting in an all-electric climate control system.” HOLT is working with Taitem Engineering on improving the building’s external packaging and with Renovus for the rooftop solar panels. The new office will mean all of HOLT’s approximately 30 employees will
be located on one floor, whereas they are split up between two floors at the moment. The office will be laid out in a way that encourages collaboration, “with lots of natural light and glass,” according to HOLT marketing manager Maria Livingston. “There will be more casual touchdown spaces,” Livingston said, “and all of the conference rooms will be technology enabled for videoconferencing. It makes a difference when you’re working remotely, where the camera is in a room, for example.” HOLT moved into its current space at 217 N. Aurora St. in 1984. The “Crescent House” was built in 1916 as a silent movie theatre, and was converted into a dance hall in the 1920s. After some Depressionera years of abandonment, the building was bought by Ithaca College in 1946 and made into a gymnasium, then, after IC moved onto South Hill, was made into the “Night Court” rock club, a regular advertiser of 50 cent drinks in the Ithaca New Times. Finding a location that HOLT
could own led them to West State Street, State. They have a small, second office in Gillespie said. Though the location is a Syracuse, and as they continue to expand bit further from the downtown core, they their clientele in a market HOLT wants to consider it an extension of downtown. continue putting local architects on those Gillespie said he is excited about the projects. “resurgence” in the West End. “Higher education and health care “Everything is happening in the State have always been our core competencies, Street corridor,” Gillespie said. “We’ll have and that’s going to continue,” Gillespie showers in the office now, so everyone said. “In different corners of the state, will be able to take advantage of the some community-based projects have recreational opportunities in that area, really taken off. We’re going to continue with the gym, the kayaking, the trails.” our focus on attracting architects to Compared to their current offices, Ithaca, and having Syracuse architects for the new space will be a slight expansion, in terms of pure square footage, from about 6,500 to about Rendering of new office on West Buffalo Street. (Photo:HOLT Architects) 7,000. HOLT added nine new people in the past year and are Syracuse clients. There’s the potential for in something of a “recruitment push,” Buffalo and Rochester to happen, too.” Livingston said. Prominent local HOLT projects “Architects who are coming out of include Ithaca College’s Robert Tallman school, they’re the labor pool,” Gillespie Rowing Center on the Cayuga Inlet and said. Selling professionals just coming the Peggy Ryan Williams Center, the into the field, adept with the latest renovation of Olin Library at Cornell, and technologies, on Ithaca’s charms is part the Gateway Commons, Seneca Way, and of HOLT’s strategy. So is continuing Breckenridge Place in downtown Ithaca. § to expand their reach across New York
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