Liberty Courtyard In the past, the Liberty Courtyard was the location of railways that allowed the loading and unloading of cargo from rail cars to the surrounding warehouse buildings, including the Abernathy Furniture Company, the Fadco Furniture Company, The Hobbs Furniture Building, and Ryley Wilson & Company Grocers Building. Today, the brick warehouses remain as well as the loading docks that were used to service the train, but the rails have been removed and now automobiles pass through or park in the space. The Hobbs building is well-used as artist studios and small business offices, and the Abernathy building has plans to be renovated into apartments. There is a undeniable charm to the Liberty Courtyard. The comfortable sense of enclosure by authentically historic brick warehouses is only enhanced by its off-kilter street grid, which results in stunning oblique views of these buildings. The loading docks maintain their presence, however they have lost their original purpose as loading and unloading for rail cars. Impressive graffiti murals coat various walls of this courtyard, especially along the eastern face of the Abernathy Building. Another form of paint is the ghost signs, the lasting yet fading branding of each of the warehouses. The design intervention seeks to preserve the beauty and history of the brick warehouses while simultaneously giving new purpose to the loading docks and giving higher purpose to the deteriorating ground plane. A second, temporary design intervention seeks to customize the shape and functions of the courtyard to whatever situation is needed at the time, and then disappear when not needed.
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