Wright-Kay Building
Hannah-Neumann/Smith
The scope of work included complete restoration of the Wright-Kay Building, originally the Schwankovsky Temple of Music, one of the oldest buildings in downtown Detroit, which houses Neumann/Smith’s design studio and offices of our minority partnership practice, Hannah-Neumann/Smith, LLC.
The project called for all new mechanical, electrical, bathrooms and plumbing, new elevators and windows. The project started out as a full historic preservation project, but mid-way through construction a more relaxed approach to the restrictions on demolition and restoration of gutted floors allowed a more M@dison-like “embrace the raw” approach for the tenants.
Neumann/Smith chose to stay with the historic preservation approach on their suite. We developed the construction documentation for the suite and developed space plans for floors 2, 5 and 6 for potential future tenants. The third floor was scanned utilizing 3D laser scan technology and the scans were used to develop the detailed preservation scope of the build-out of the floor.
The project included all new base mechanical and electrical systems and suite build-out engineering and documentation. Bathrooms were designed to “Bedrock” standards as was the lobby. Facade restoration was also part of the scope. Retail was developed as a “white box” waiting for a tenant.