When Julie and Steve Burgess decided to sell their 6,000-square-foot 1927 Federal-style home in Midtown Omaha, Neb., in favor of a more compact residence nearer Omaha’s revitalizing downtown, they discussed searching for a loft-style condominium popular in that urban neighborhood. The large repurposed spaces with generous ceilings, plenty of exposed brick walls and original wood floors in converted manufacturing and warehouse buildings appealed to them. It wasn’t long before they realized what they were searching for already existed in a series of buildings Julie’s family owned as part of the family business she runs with her brother Michael.
Automatic Printing Co. was founded in 1935 by Julie and Michael’s grandfather Anton Piskac Sr., a few blocks from the family business’ current location. As the business grew, it relocated to three conjoined buildings between 17th and 18th Streets along Cuming Street, constructed around 1916. In recent years, as the printing industry has evolved and business has slowed, Automatic Printing has gradually condensed its operations into the largest of the three buildings, leaving the other two vacant and underutilized.
One of these vacant buildings, which would become the Burgesses’ new home, had once served as Automatic Printing’s business offices. The 24-foot-wide by 75-foot-long building had all the qualities of the loft-style buildings popular in nearby downtown Omaha. However, the essence and bones of the building were hidden under wood-paneled walls; carpeted floors; and an acoustic lay-in ceiling, which had compressed the height of the building to an 8-foot ceiling. The ceiling was really almost 18 feet to the underside of the wood roof trusses. A small second-floor space at the front of the building was unused (and rumored to house a brothel before the family purchased the buildings).
The successful creation of the Burgesses’ home within the larger of the two vacant buildings has helped the Burgesses decide to renovate the adjacent and smaller vacant building into retail space on the ground floor with a second-floor apartment for lease. This retro t will further support the surrounding redeveloping neighborhood, which includes the site of the annual NCAA College World Series.
A BUILDING WITHIN
The Burgesses engaged Omaha architecture firm DeOld Andersen Architecture (DAA), whom Steve had worked with on a project for the local school district, to plan the renovation of their new home, which would be shared with Julie’s sister Jana. DAA is known for working on difficult renovations in the urban core of Omaha, including the renovation of the firm’s own studio within a historic building near the Burgesses. As DAA began, Dicon was hired to begin preliminary demolition, stripping the building down to its bare essence and uncovering the potential it would provide to the architects and Burgesses.
Removing the existing finishes and materials revealed Douglas fir wood flooring throughout the first floor, exposed wood-framed roof trusses the length of the building and full-height brick bearing walls with earlier openings and windows filled with mismatched brick conveying the history of the building’s evolution. To accommodate filling the family’s needs, DAA proposed demolishing and replacing the second floor the full length of the building while the basement was reclaimed for mechanical rooms, storage rooms, a small wine cellar and wood shop.
Initial geotechnical reports found the soil conditions wouldn’t allow the existing stepped brick footings beneath the masonry bearing walls to carry additional load, so structural engineering rm The Wells Resource proposed a building within a building.
A new grid of 4-inch pipe columns—interior of the bearing walls—was planned, bearing on new concrete footings ranging in size from 3 foot 3 inches by 3 foot 3 inches to 6 feet by 6 feet, kept 3 foot 3 inches from the exterior bearing wall and 6 feet 3 inches from the bearing wall shared with the other buildings to avoid disturbing the soils surrounding the existing footings. New steel beams completed this new framework, infilled with laminated veneer lumber, or LVL, and 2 by 12s to create the new second floor.
A 225-square-foot outdoor roof deck was added above a CMU block and steel web joist structure at the rear of the building, giving the family an urban outdoor space overlooking downtown Omaha. The space is accessible through a new standing-seam metal bulkhead, the only building addition to the project.
INSPIRATION FROM THE EXISTING
The design team was inspired by the existing materials in the building, informing how the new construction elements would be expressed. Initially the team planned to skin the interior of the masonry bearing walls with new insulation and drywall but, after further research, elected to leave the walls exposed, not wanting to alter the learned performance of the walls and moisture behavior. The result is a continuous presence of the historic brick throughout the residence.
Prior to Dicon’s initial demolition, the team also had assumed the first floor was composed of plywood sub floor over wood floor joists, only to find an existing Douglas fir floor beneath what was believed to be a sub floor. The Douglas fir flooring was repaired and refinished and informed the wood-paneled powder room and built-in shelving on the first floor, the solid wood stair treads and the new wood floor on the second floor. The existing wood-framed roof trusses were left exposed in open areas and in the master suite, adding height to the second floor and another reminder of the history of the building.
The family’s primary living spaces were planned for the first level, including the living room that was paired with a second outdoor seating area carved from the front of the building and fronting the sidewalk. Steve designed a custom laser-cut steel screen with a pattern inspired by Lebanese artwork, which veils the patio and living room from the busy street. A dining room and full kitchen complete the first floor, the kitchen serving as the heart of the home. Steve is the cook in the family while Julie makes raspberry preserves.
The new second floor includes the family’s bedrooms and an open office. An open stair connects the three levels of the building and is capped with a new skylight, which brings natural daylight deep into the middle of the building. A residential elevator is paired with the stair, permitting Jana, who has accessibility issues, to easily move throughout the building while allowing Steve and Julie to age-in-place in their new home.
The Burgesses and Jana have easily grown into their new home, in part because of the extensive collaboration between the family and DAA during the planning phases. For Julie and Jana, commute times to the family business have been drastically reduced. Plus, the family did not have to give up their garden despite their new urban setting. Although smaller in size, the beloved family garden has been replicated on the new roof deck.
PHOTOS: William Hess Photography
Retrofit Team
ARCHITECT: DeOld Andersen Architecture
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: The Wells Resource
MEP ENGINEER: Alvine Engineering
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Dicon
Materials
WINDOWS: E-Series from Andersen Windows & Doors
SKYLIGHTS: Fixed Skylights from VELUX
PAINT: Benjamin Moore
TILE: Daltile and Ceramiche Caesar
STANDING-SEAM METAL BULKHEAD: Petersen
BATHROOM COUNTERTOPS: Silestone
SINKS AND TOILETS: Kohler, American Standard and BLANCO
FAUCETS AND SHOWERHEADS: American Standard and BLANCO
GAS FIREPLACE: Ortal