I am really excited about the new Walgreen's store at the corner of Edgewood Avenue and Peachtree Street in Downtown Atlanta. It's great that I will be able to pick up my prescriptions, but even better is the skin design.
While I may not know the details of the decision, Walgreens should be applauded for not demolishing the historic exterior. Instead, the design team treated the exterior as sacred. For awile the historic skin and bracing were the only pieces of architecture on the site. (The concrete topping - the picture shows the first layer of metal decking - was recently added.)
Though I am curious why so much of the first floor exterior was demolished. Part of me thinks that Historic Register would have prevented the demolition (if the Historic Register was part of the decision). But I wonder if the majority glass exterior simply wasn't worth saving. That's the thing. Old buildings and their skins are beautiful. But sometimes new technologies are simply such great improvements that no practical designer could say: You know, that stick built spandrel needs to stay because I am a historic purist.
But ... here's a big but: old facades and their structures are incredibly resilient. The multifaceted layers of facade dispel moisture and the real stone resists efflorescence ie "the white stuff" on fake stones and poorly flashed brick. (Since I am not a masonry subcontractor, here's a link for those of you who want to learn how to lay brick to prevent efflorescence. I wear turtle necks and scarves so I am not as inclined.)
By keeping the historic facade, Walgreens is saying not only do we care about our community's history, we want to preserve a part of that history. Consumers appreciate corporations bringing commerce back to the urban core especially when the arrival is as respectful as this Walgreens along Peachtree Street.
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