Opening up

When a company full of creatives needed to expand, it called on other creatives

BY CINDY GRAHL A company constrained by being housed in two old residential buildings took a good look at making the best use of what it had on hand, and came out with a stunning and contemporary commercial building, all by exploring its own strengths and possibilities. Jason Mlicki, principal at Mlicki Design, explains, “Our company is a branding agency, helping companies determine their unique story and present it to the marketplace in a clear and compelling way. Our staff is a mix of strategy, research, and creative, so they need an open, engaging and collaborative environment.”
However, the two 1920s Victorian-tyle structures that housed the Mlicki offices, joined by a porch-like corridor across the back, did not foster this approach to doing business. Says Mlicki, “Our original facilities had dark, tight spaces, with small windows, and so hindered any kind of sharing. And with no room to grow, and too much unusable space, we had to do something. We looked at moving into a typical loft building, but feared we would lose the authenticity of our own brand and commoditize ourselves, and we saw this as an opportunity to differentiate ourselves. We committed to staying here in the neighborhood.”
And the neighborhood worked with them as a zoning change in the half residential, half commercial district allowed them to join the two buildings. Mlicki worked with Jonathan Barnes Architects and Designers to renovate the two houses, knowing the firm’s success with such blends of old and new as the Bunson Building Lofts, 225 North Court Lofts and Harman Building in Columbus. In the match, creative met creative.
Getting a vision
“When we first engaged with Barnes, we had an off-site “vision” workshop to determine what we needed from the new space, like a large enough conference room, and open environment,” says Mlicki.
“They wanted to stay on the property, and to stay in two houses, as a way to look less corporate,” says Jonathan Barnes, Jonathan Barnes Architects and Designers, Columbus. “So we created a hybrid residential/commercial structure to maintain that important distinction. The neighborhood was in transition, with a commercial strip next to a residential area.”
He goes on, “This was all done via discussion with the Mlicki Group, to allow them to work the way they wanted to work. We talked about the different spaces and how to accommodate open office space.”
Adds Mlicki, “Barnes used a space planning document to make this design process more efficient, because we could determine our space requirements. Using this process, renderings were followed with the logistical details.” The outcome: two residential structures that looked “mom and pop” became a solidly commercial, and sophisticated, one.
Conference rooms are called names like Down the Hall and In Here, while a second-story workspace is Tip Top. The company calls it Frank Lloyd Wright Meets Roy Lichenstein, merging organic architecture with pop culture. In fact, it was inspired by the work of NYC artist Gordon Matta-Clark, who cuts voids into abandoned buildings as a kind of performance art.
“We had to think how Mlicki uses these buildings, how to join them,” says Barnes. “We joined them top to bottom, with a two floor-foyer between, creating a new entry by creating a new volume and a new identity, opening the houses up to each other. By cutting two circles from the former exteriors, you can see from most of the interior spaces through to the other house. Then we cut smaller holes to frame views.”
There is also a second-floor industrial-look metal and polycarbonate catwalk through the new foyer as a connector, with a translucent polycarbonate roof, and a new stairwell to bring in the daylight, which now floods the interior. The material was also used for a foyer desk.
Chris Zamilski, project manager for Corna Kokosing, the general contractor, says, “This was a fun project, and not a high money one. The architect gave us a set of 3D drawings to help us envision how this building would work. It definitely helped to determine how the walls and circles would intersect.”
Connecting the two existing houses made for an interesting challenge all around. “The detailing was intense,” says Mlicki. “Jon’s whole idea here was a spherical void.” New windows travel across floors and around corners, with the space and supports between showing. And those floors were, of course, at different levels in the two buildings, a definite design challenge successfully overcome. Use of retail storefront glass creates a commercial feel.
The project wasn’t helped by the age of the buildings. It was a construction challenge, says Zamilski: old buildings, with deferred maintenance. As usual with rehabs, the project team found the unexpected when walls and roofs were opened: remnants of an old doctor’s office behind closed off stairs that included a cabinet full of prescription bottles; charred joists giving evidence of a previous chimney fire; one interior wall that bowed dramatically. Corna Kokosing winched it back into plumb. One house had been added onto three times, and the other was found to have two unstable floors which had to be shored up.
“The project supervisors were really good,” says Mlicki. “They didn’t just oversee, they figured out how to deal with the big problems we encountered. Corna’s wood shop easily handled the custom work needed. Corna Kokosing also self-performed the framing, drywall, siding and some of the masonry and steel work.”

Full value
Part of Corna Kokosing’s value was in giving good advice. Mlicki says it was found to be more cost-effective to join the two houses than to raze and build anew, with the GC value engineering to reduce costs without compromising any of the design intent. “Too many contractors take the design elements out,” says Mlicki. “But they worked hard to deliver, to be a part of the design team creating a signature building.” For example, their ideas about the right choice of siding kept the right appearance but saved $20,000 by Corna’s research into just the right materials. The outside of the houses now have a striated dark and silver-gray cladding, with the outside connector piece in orange, a dramatic change for a good reason. The treatment unites the projecting bay windows, turrents and shapes of the original home. Strong roof lines make it contemporary and commercial.
Says Barnes, “Financially, it was like six of one, half dozen of the other. You have to be prepared, as with all older buildings, and the agility to find on-site solutions, like Corna Kokosing did.”
He concludes, “The idea of sustainability, is not necessarily a technological solution. It is low tech to save what is needed and to add daylighting. We kept 80% of what was there, but it is a totally different building now. From a builder’s perspective, it offers a good lesson in seeing not what is in front of you, but what could be. We did not so much upgrade as transform, to make this work as a commercial building.” BXM

Owner: Mlicki Design Inc.
Architect: Jonathan Barnes Architecture
and Design Ltd.
GC: Corna Kokosing
Timeline: 7 months
Size: 6,800-sf
Cost: $690,000
Vendors:
n Capital, roofing
n Gallina, polycarbonate
n Gates Brothers Glass, storefront windows
n James Hardie, exterior siding
n Martin, painting
n Pinnacle, steel
n Rite Rug, flooring
n Shelley Metz Baumann Hawk, structural eng.
n Site Solutions, excavation
n Superior Group, electric
n Synergy, stucco
n 5th Ave, wood supplier
n Crawford Mech., HVAC/Plumbing