Articles listed in Chronological Order:
Article 1 : Dilapidated Atlanta building transformed into award winner
Article 2 : Local Residents Tout Intown Living at Home Show
Article 3: Newcomers Rediscover the Charms of this Southwest Hood
Dilapidated Atlanta building transformed into award winner
Architects, others to be honored by Urban Design Commission
By CATHERINE FOX
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/17/08
When architects David Yocum and Brian Bell first saw their future office eight years ago, they were not yet business partners, and the building was a ruin.
The automobile parts repair shop was a hulk of cinder block and rusting metal. The roof had fallen in, windows were welded shut. The warehouse behind it was a windowless box. Even at a sale price of $40,000, the West End property did not seem much of a bargain.
Nevertheless, Yocum bought it. Next, he spent eight months of his free time in demolition mode, removing years of accumulated debris. Voila — a courtyard!
LOUIE FAVORITE/AJC
Removal of years of accumulated debris revealed a courtyard on the Villa de Murph site. David Yocum transformed the warehouse behind the repair shop into a live/work space. 'We love restrictions and constraints,' Yocum says.
LOUIE FAVORITE/AJC
Brian Bell (left) and David Yocum turned a run-down auto parts repair shop on Murphy Avenue in the West End into Villa de Murph, home of their 2-year-old firm, BLDGS.
Yocum then transformed the warehouse behind it into a live/work domain. The plan is simple yet creative in its economical use of space and surprise details, like the bathroom floor made of river rocks. The new glass wall facing the courtyard and the skylights punched in the roof bathe the once windowless structure in light.
The project, dubbed Villa de Murph, is now the home of BLDGS, Yocum and Bell's 2-year-old firm. Villa de Murph won a national Small Projects Award from the American Institute of Architects in 2007 and will receive an award Tuesday night for adaptive use from Atlanta's Urban Design Commission, a city advisory board on architectural design and historic preservation.
"I think it's one of the most exciting pieces of architecture I've seen in Atlanta," says designer Pamola Powell, a member of the Urban Design Commission's board. "It's fresh and creative. They took a dilapidated eyesore and turned it into a little jewel."
Villa de Murph was a labor of love. And restraint. Yocum describes the creation of the courtyard as a process of taking things out. In their book, the architects say, less is better.
"We want to make visitors aware of what's there," Yocum says.
In this case, it's the memory of the past embodied in the rusting roof joists overhead, old brick columns and battered walls.
Yocum, 38, and Bell, 41, have been friends since they met while attending Harvard's Graduate School of Design. Atlanta architect Mack Scogin, who was chairman of the school's architecture department when they were there, recruited them for the firm he runs with Merrill Elam.
The pair say they admire their mentors' adventurousness, creativity and tenacity in realizing their vision. And like Scogin and Elam, Bell and Yocum thrive on challenges, both in new construction and in renovations like Villa de Murph.
"We love restrictions and constraints," Yocum says. "They give you room for invention, something to work against."
Especially exciting as a new firm, says Bell, "is the challenge of finding your own path."
Click here for a link to The AJC's Photo Gallery related to this article.
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Local Residents Tout Intown Living at Home Show
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By H.M. CAULEY
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/13/08
Visitors to the spring Atlanta Home Show this weekend may be surprised to find a corner of the Georgia World Congress Center crowded with folks from more than a dozen city neighborhoods jostling for their attention.
The intowners are anxious to show off their Power Points, brochures and photo spreads that highlight the special characteristics of their home turf.
They're all part of an exhibit on "Atlanta's Secret Places," designed to introduce show-goers to those "hidden" residential areas that offer amenities, affordable housing and the perks of living inside the city limits.
The project is sponsored by Councilwoman Mary Norwood and the Neighborhood Housing Coalition in the hopes of convincing more people to move intown.
"It makes all the sense in the world to have employees of companies in the city who go to the Home Show see for themselves what's going on in the intown neighborhoods," said Norwood, who put the word out that she was looking for neighborhood residents to create a display and man a booth at the show.
"I didn't know if we'd get five or 50," she said. "So far, we have 16, from Adamsville and Collier Heights to East Atlanta. These are communities that people don't usually know too much about."
They'll know plenty about Derek Duckworth's Adair Park neighborhood if they talk to him at the show. Duckworth and neighbors from three adjacent communities — Capitol View, Capitol View Manor and Sylvan Hills — joined forces to come up with a presentation that highlights the assets of their area.
"We share a lot of the same qualities and amenities," said Duckworth, who lives in a renovated 1919 house. "We are all centrally located, close to downtown, along the Beltline [the planned loop of transit, trails and parks], and a few minutes from the airport. We don't necessarily have the same styles of houses: Adair Park has more Craftsman bungalows and Capitol View has more Victorians. But we all appreciate the older qualities of the neighborhoods."
Duckworth's presentation will highlight the area's popular Perkerson Park, skyline views of downtown and the proximity to the airport. "We don't just want to point out the new or remodeled houses," he said.
The key to the exhibit is that it's being staged by the people who know these neighborhoods best, said Norwood. "They will be at home talking about the features and benefits of living intown, of being near transit and the Interstates, and about their parks and libraries."
The exhibit includes experts in real estate, banking and home buying who will provide information on available houses, mortgages and the details of buying a house.
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Adair Park: Newcomers Rediscover the Charms of this Southwest Hood
Creative Loafing
Published on: 10/07/00
By Emily Kleine
Life is changing on the bungalow-lined streets of Adair Park. The rhythmic sound of hammers is replacing screeching police sirens. After years of exodus, young people are moving back into the neighborhood. The relocation to Adair Park is still a trickle, but even a trickle eventually fills a bucket. Perry Thornton and his wife Jackie are typical of the young professionals who have rediscovered the charms of Adair Park. Like many new residents, the Thorntons were encouraged to move to the Southwest Atlanta neighborhood through a program associated with their alma mater, Clark Atlanta University. At first they were a little skeptical about the move, but after seeing the beautiful bungalows, the idea grew on them. "We moved here and made a pledge to stay at least five years," says Perry, "but we will be staying a lot longer."
One of the reasons people have not been flooding into Adair Park is the lack of a high-quality neighborhood school. "We think a school will go a long way in redeveloping the community," says Perry. He is part of a group of neighborhood volunteers who are laying the groundwork for a charter school. So far the group has secured $8.5 million in private funding and hopes to open the school in Adair Park next year.
Along with the ambitious newcomers, Adair Park is populated with many lifelong residents. "This is a community where people don't give up their houses," explains life resident Jeannie Mills, "this is our home, so we stay."
Helping to foster the continued sense of community among old-timers and newcomers is the neighborhood's annual homecoming. Those who have moved away come back to visit friends and rekindle their ties to the neighborhood.
Much of what draws, and keeps people in the Adair Park community, is its beautiful older homes. Most homes were built in the early 1920s and range in size from modest to large. Neighbors also praise the wide curving streets -- 10 feet wider than streets in most intown neighborhoods -- and two beautiful parks. Residents of Adair Park believe, for the money, you can't find a better place to live.
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