R.J. Heisenbottle Architects, PA

Adaptive Reuse is one of the best ways to preserve historic buildings for generations to come. This project is an excellent example of adaptive reuse: the transformation of the dilapitated and fire-damaged Delray Beach Train Depot into a Health Clinic and Human Resources & Risk Management Department's Offices for the City of Delray Beach ✨. Our firm developed the drawings and construction documents to restore, rehabilitate, and reconstruct the historic 1927 Delray Beach Seaboard Air Line Railway Station located at 80 Depot Avenue in Delray Beach.   Restoration of the historic train station included a complete restoration of the interior and exterior including all new mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems. The structure was analyzed for problems resulting from the fire damage.   The firm was responsible for designing and preparing construction documents for the interior build out of the structure to prepare it for its new use as a small health clinic and office space. Exterior renovations include a partial restoration of exterior walls, along with new exterior walls and roofs have been added to accommodate the building’s new use.   The site was designed to accommodate new parking; site lighting and landscaping with historically appropriate details and materials. Additional on-site improvements include site walk connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists. Thanks to our team: KEITH Douglas S. Wood, P.E., FRSE O'Donnell & Naccarato Johnson, Avedano, Lopez, Rodriguez & Walewski Engineering Group, Inc. Let us know if you've seen this beauty since it's restoration!  

Love adaptive reuse of historic properties? Check out this great article from the National Trust for Historic Preservation featuring fabulous new uses for Historic Greyhound Stations! Five Historic Greyhound Stations Live On With New Uses | National Trust for Historic Preservation (savingplaces.org)

As you may have already heard, our restoration of the historic Citizens Bank building located in the heart of the Omni CRA just won a major Florida Trust for Historic Preservation award! It also won a Dade Heritage Trust award earlier this year - so this beauty keeps on winning! Want to learn more about the restoration process of this project? Check out this great video by Current Miami documenting the restoration process and why it was important to save this landmark building. A special thanks to the Omni CRA for believing in us and to Damian Pardo, CFP®, CIMA®, CRPC® for so eloquently expressing why Historic Preservation is so important to our communities! https://lnkd.in/dqKN56Aq

A special thank you to Traditional Building Magazine and their talented writer Nancy Ruhling for this great article about the restoration of the Miami Woman's Club, a true labor of love. #TraditionalBuilding #HistoricPreservation #MiamiDadeCounty #CityofMiami https://lnkd.in/eprjFtje

This beauty has won yet another award 😍. Our restoration of the 1926 Miami Woman's Club has won its 3rd award - this time a National Palladio Award from Traditional Building Magazine! It was designed in 1926 by Mr. August Geiger, one of Miami’s prominent and outstanding early local architects. The four and one-half story building, encompassing over 30,000 square feet, is an excellent example of the adaptation of Spanish Renaissance Revival style architecture to the South Florida environment. Mr. Geiger also designed the Alamo (at today's Jackson Memorial Hospital), the Carl Fisher Clubhouse on Miami Beach and he was the associate architect for the Dade County Courthouse. The excellence of the building design, craftsmanship, and detailing is evident in its symmetrical composition; articulated fourth story featuring semi-circular arched windows, belt courses and cornice; garden courtyard; and porte-cochere. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The Miami Woman’s Club itself is significant for its contribution to the social and cultural development of Miami. Organized in 1900, the Miami Woman’s Club has maintained an impressive record of service to the South Florida community. The organization established the City’s first library and is credited with founding the present Miami Dade County public library system. All restoration and rehabilitation work on the structure was completed in compliance with the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Work began in 2008 and finally officially finished at the end of 2023. The project began with the urgent need to complete structural and electrical repairs to meet the requirements of the 40 Year Recertification. Upon completion of the necessary structural repairs, further restoration was elected to recreate lost original ornamentation which had been stripped from the facades during earlier repairs. This gorgeous building still serves as the offices for the Miami Woman's Club and has been adaptively reused to also be the home to two well known Miami restaurants: Klaw and Casadonna! Structural engineering by the one and only Douglas S. Wood, P.E., FRSE Other awards this restoration has won: AIA Miami Merit Award of Excellence in Restoration and the Dade Heritage Trust Preservation Award! #palladioaward #traditionalbuildingmagazine #miamidade

We loved working with incoming senior, Olivia, for a week! We think we have her on a path to architecture for sure ;-)

We're featured on the Miami Design and Preservation League's blog this week about our work at the iconic Miami Freedom Tower, in their May special feature: People Saving Places. Read the post and learn more about how Richard Heisenbottle, FAIA has been involved in its restoration for many years and what's in store for this landmark's future. People Saving Places: R.J. Heisenbottle Architects and the Freedom Tower – Miami Design Preservation League (mdpl.org)

May is PRESERVATION month! To bring awareness to how crucial historic preservation is to our cultural wellbeing, we're sharing some of our favorite and often over-looked preservation projects. Historic Preservation is so much more than saving old buildings - saving and understanding historic places instills national and community pride, a better understanding of who we are and where we came from, promotes heritage tourism, and has a multitide of positive social and economic benefits! Today's spotlight is on the South Side School in Fort Lauderdale! South Side Elementary School constructed in 1922, is the oldest school in Ft. Lauderdale, built after the city recognized the need for neighborhood schools and during Florida's Land Boom. The city of Ft. Lauderdale engaged our team to provide historic preservation and master planning services for restoration of the South Side School and redevelopment of Florence Hardy Park. The historic school building’s exterior was restored to its original appearance, while the school’s interior was redesigned to meet the programmatic requirements of the City for a Neighborhood Community Arts Center. The building has dedicated spaces for art and ceramics studios, computer classrooms, music classrooms, a fitness studio, a dance studio, a recital room, culinary classroom and an outdoor stage and amphitheatre. In 2006, South Side was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Thanks for sharing this cool project Multivista! Thanks for being outstanding to work with and for performing this ultra-important task. Being able to 3D scan historic buildings is an extremely helpful tool in the preservation process!

We're proud to announce that our restoration of the historic Miami Women's Club has won a NATIONAL award! This time, this project has been awarded the Palladio Award by Traditional Building Magazine for EXCELLENCE IN ADAPTIVE REUSE. A labor of love that spanned over 10 years, this is one of those preservation projects for the ages. This gorgeous 1926 building is still home to the prestigious Miami Womens Club and is also the site of two exciting Miami restaurants: Klaw and Casadonna. #palladioawards #traditionalbuildingmagazine #miamiwomensclub