Project Description

Riverview Launch

Addition and Adaptive Reuse

Location: Kalamazoo, MI
Completed: 2015

Renovated area:  6,500 SF
New construction:  1,800 SF

Awards: Merit Award, AIA SW Michigan
Historic Preservation Merit Award, Kalamazoo Historic Preservation Commission

Riverview Launch is a community hub located along the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail and on the bank of the Kalamazoo River. It was the executive director of the Kalamazoo County Land Bank Authority who first saw the potential for reinvention of this blighted and foreclosed site complete with several neglected structures.

The project transforms four existing buildings, including a former florist shop, a boiler building, a storage garage and a greenhouse, connecting them with a new building to form a campus-like facility that will be home for the Kalamazoo County Land Bank Authority and other community-based not-for-profit organizations.  Interior and exterior spaces for community gatherings are also included.

The design intent was to keep the eclectic feel of the site, while unifying the buildings and adapting them for their new uses.