A venerable and forward looking construction company, Gray Construction, asked us to help them convert a 1930’s department store downtown to their new offices. The project included sorting out the configuration of the interior, inserting a set linear openings connecting all the floors, and creating an entrance at the rear where the employees part. The store fronts a now all-pedestrian mall and has, in effect, two entrances.

The expression of ‘construction’ was effected with a partially embedded steel frame merging with the existing brick facade. The brick was conveniently angled to allow the modern and the old to occupy different layers.

We created a courtyard entrance with a security gate, and a heroic flagpole setting on a dramatically cantilevered catwalk.

The interior, though conceived by us, was completed by a local interior designer more in tune with the family’s taste, but the exterior remains a proud declaration of the company and its mission.

James Gray, one of the original clients for the project, has gone on to become the Mayor of Lexington. We are proud of our association with both the family and the new mayor!