Dura wins City Beautification Award

Last night, Danny was in Gainesville FL to receive an award with our U14 project clients. Every year the city of Gainesville recognizes projects and people that have contributed to the betterment of the community. We’re pleased that our design has inspired the people it serves.

This was the award writeup:

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U14

1401 University Avenue, Gainesville

Just a stone’s throw from University and 13th,
Gainesville’s most prominent intersection, U14 is an adaptive-reuse development
that has enhanced community street life by rehabilitating an old Presbyterian
student center for use as a six-tenant restaurant building.

Demonstrating what is possible in saving older structures, the
project has attracted quality eatery options without sacrificing building
infrastructure capabilities, and has become a destination lunch, dinner and
after-dinner location. We commend the owners for their initiative in
rehabilitating existing buildings through adaptive reuse and maintaining
continuity in our cityscape.

U14 has been transformed as a modern structure with big city
commercial urbanism that reaches toward the street, pulling the public into its
open boundaries and façades. Tenant visibility was maximized through the use of
extensive storefronts, while providing canopy shading necessary for energy
conservation, as well as sidewalk cafes. These elements
were designed to utilize the historic spacing of structural supports and
building volumes, even where new construction was woven into the old. The
project received the maximum amount in award grants from the Community Redevelopment
Agency, demonstrating its early appeal and buy-in from community leaders.

Brick pavers line the sidewalk cafes, which are delineated
by custom steel fences and cedar rails. Within these are two prominent
businesses: Burrito Brothers, a longtime Gainesville favorite; and Dough
Religion / Oozoo Bar, a newcomer to Gainesville and the pilot testing ground
for a national concept. Other tenant spaces exist upstairs and on the ground
floor. The upstairs tenant space boasts a deck view of University Avenue which
will further animate the property, making it a destination for quality dining
and drinking options.

The architect for the project was Dura
Architecture of Orange Park. Structural engineering was by Wayland Structural
Engineering in Gainesville, and the MEP engineering team Powell and Hinkle, PA,
of Orange Park, with civil engineering by George F. Young. The landscape
architect was Buford Davis & Associates, Gainesville. The facility was
built by Oelrich Construction. 

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Thank you City Beautification Board and City of Gainesville and thank you to our clients for giving us a shot at something special.