Renovations and Re-Use Old Orchard Beach Town Offices Old Orchard Beach,Maine

While providing for modern town spaces for the community of Old Orchard Beach, our major design criteria was to preserve the architectural grandeur of the stately turn-of-the-century shingle style structure. It today stands as the cornerstone for the continuing redevelopment of downtown Old Orchard Beach area. The building’s original 1903 plan was altered to achieve […]

While providing for modern town spaces for the community of Old Orchard Beach, our major design criteria was to preserve the architectural grandeur of the stately turn-of-the-century shingle style structure. It today stands as the cornerstone for the continuing redevelopment of downtown Old Orchard Beach area. The building’s original 1903 plan was altered to achieve functionality as well as accessibility. The building had 5 very “chopped up” levels, which by selectively removing unusable intermediate levels and removing outer sections of the middle floor to allow natural light to reach the lowest level has achieved dramatic and very pleasing results. A modern elevator now serves all floors including the renovated third floor council chambers. As an added element of the renovation we were able to restore the original tin ceiling located in the council chamber to its original grandeur. Work to the exterior, while updating such things as windows and roofing, remained true to the historic character of the building. The scale, texture, colors, and architectural detailing reflect the period as well as respond to the context of the neighboring buildings and the result creates a welcoming gateway into this charming New England town.