The reuse of the building is a success for downtown. The design of the facade...sadly, is not. With such high hopes for front facade transformations--piggy-backing on recent successful revisions Sushitto/Katz', Pescara, and Dooley's--this one falls short. For such a prominent address, it has been such a colossal disappointment.
With the arguments over adaptive reuse, historical preservation, and redevelopment aside, the two bays of the Paine Furniture store with its 16' tall ceilings and wide open floor plan is ripe for a new establishment. The remaining third of the facade that Big Brad's is now occupying, could be torn down and built from scratch. In the future, as the skyway system is planned to cross Broadway from the City Center development, Big Brad's may become the base of the elevated skyway. So removing a section of "old and tired" building to make way for a brand new business that may become a showpiece for downtown Rochester was our charge.
GDG developed three alternative concepts. Leave a comment on which you would rather see on Broadway: a Big Blooper, or a Bad-Ass Building?
mixed use - pocket theatre with upstairs martini bar
green design - living wall creates a vegetated facade
vertical lantern - glowing all glass stair tower highlights circulation
existing - 'nuff said
