The Hill Building is an historic tobacco warehouse dating from 1900. The building is the first completed renovation in the second phase of the long-abandoned American Tobacco Campus’s transformation into a lively residential and commercial mixed-use center, which includes the new Durham Bulls Stadium.
The existing structure was rapidly deteriorating, as the roof had collapsed. The program called for the complete structural restoration and adaptive reuse that would maintain the building’s historic character while allowing its flexible reconfiguration as either a corporate headquarters for a high-tech marketing company or divisable space for multiple office tenants.
W’s challenge included the reconstruction of the original timber frame and masonry building as well as systems upgrades, fire stairs and elevator, and the insertion of new windows and skylights for daylighting the office interiors. The location and configuration of the core was of particular significance as it needed to work well for a single tenant or for several. Other considerations included maintaining code compliance while updating a 19th Century warehouse into a 21st Century office.
The final building includes a partial timber mezzanine to expand square footage as well as the removal of floor area for atria and daylighting transforming a 33,600 sq ft building footprint into 55,000 sq ft.