PROJECT OF THE YEAR: BEST REUSE OF EXISTING STRUCTURE
St. Mary’s Apartments
St. Mary’s Apartments in upstate New York has come full circle. For more than 75 years, the building was home to the sisters of St. Francis, whose mission is to assist the elderly. Today, the former St. Mary’s of the Angels Motherhouse provides affordable housing for seniors.
The building was a perfect fit for senior housing, says Tom Granville, managing director of Whitney Capital Co., a co-developer of the project along with CSR Properties. “The building footprint as well as the configuration made sense from a senior housing standpoint, in that it was all in one building,” he says.
The developers were quickly sold on the idea, eager to provide a place for seniors to age in their hometown neighborhood. Transforming the former convent into housing units proved challenging, however. The team had to completely redesign the units, which were too small to serve as apartments, while complying with the state historical preservation office and new building codes. The end result: 101 unique floor plans.
“Usually you try even in a renovation project to come up with prototypical designs that you use over and over,” says Phil Silvestri, president of Amherst, N.Y.-based Silvestri Architects. “But in this case we could not because of the unusual conditions in the building.”
The building features many of its original finishes. The main corridor retains all of its original trims, and doors. The team restored all original woodwork around windows and baseboards and refinished slate and terrazzo floors.
The team worked tirelessly not only to restore the architectural beauty, but to overcome the convent’s austere and imposing aura. In the community room–the former chapel–soft seating areas replaced hard wooden pews. A community kitchen, tables, and chairs fill the areas once used as the altar and sacristy. The second-floor balcony now houses a library and reading room with original bookcases.
Perhaps Patrick Hayes, a St. Mary’s resident, says it best: “I’ve grown to love, even more, the artistic intent evident in the floors and the original artwork,” he says. “There’s a definite feel of something old and new, blending themselves into a marriage of the whole. Every day is a new revelation and an aesthetic experience.”
–R. Azoff
St. Mary’s Apartments
Location: Williamsville, N.Y.; Developer: St. Mary’s Apartments LP; Architect: Silvestri Architects PC; Manager: Whitney Management Corp.; Opened: July 2004; Units: 101; Unit Mix: Studios, one- and two-bedrooms; Rent: $512 to $644; Cool Stuff: 101 unique floor plans, views of Amherst State Park, community rooms with original chapel features