After working in Memphis for 20 years, Columbus architect Bryan Brown returned several years ago to the hometown that shaped him. Now he’s helping reshape his hometown.
Brown is the lead architect for the new Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau building behind the Tennessee Williams Home on the corner of College Street and Third Avenue South. He previously worked with the CVB building’s owner and developer, Mark Castleberry, to turn the former Blockbuster Video building into the plaza which currently holds McAlister’s Deli, Verizon Wireless and Dunkin Donuts.
The Columbus native received his degree in architecture from Mississippi State University before following his mentor, Francis Mah, to Memphis. Brown spent 20 years working for Mah’s architectural firm in Memphis before leaving five years ago to start his own firm.
He returned with his wife, Jeana Brown, who is also a Columbus native. Soon came the opportunity to design the first building many visitors to the Friendly City will encounter; the de facto face of Columbus.
How did you get this project and what else do you have in the works?
Just working with Mark Castleberry. Ronnie West, of West Brothers, is a contractor and partner on the project. Mark is my client. He is the owner and developer.
When I moved back I wanted to get involved in Columbus. I grew up here and my family’s here. So I was real lucky to get in with the Humane Society. And we’ve just about raised enough money to break ground on that.
We’ve had to redesign it and had a hard time raising money in this bad economy, but we finally have enough money to break ground. So I feel real good. I feel like I’m donating my time and services.
We’ve just completed the renovation of the First Methodist Church (in Columbus). I feel real proud of that. That turned out really good. That’s the church where my grandfather and my father went. When you’re dealing with an old church like that, to me it’s really special and you should tread lightly. Make sure you do your homework and dot your I’s and cross your T’s.
Do you intentionally take projects that are culturally significant or are you just trying to make money?
Well, you’ve got to do both. You’ve got to feed your family. But again, I think I’ve been blessed moving back home. It’s not such a rat race like Memphis.
I don’t know whether it’s a byproduct, but I think I grew up the way my father was. He felt if you’re a member of the community you should give to the community. And that’s helped sustain me in times when I didn’t have a lot of work. So I’m working with the Humane Society and the church and now I’m on the Lee Home board. And I also just got appointed to the adjustments and appeals board for the city.
The board handles appeals on code rulings. If they want to get a clearance or dispute some type of zoning issue, they would go before our board.
What is the scope of an architect’s job?
Architects are like the quarterback. They help oversee a team. Like on this project you have site issues, so you take the civil engineer and the structural engineer and the mechanical-electrical-plumbing engineer and you all work together as a team. And most of the time it’s the architect’s responsibility to have those people under his purview. He orchestrates. It’s a multi-faceted effort.
You want to look over the shoulder of the contractor and that’s why you have phases of the project.
This particular building has been redesigned several times over the years because, for one, the economy. And at first Mark was looking at a three-story building, but you get feedback and he was enlisting smart people to test the market. They said it’s going to be tough in this economy. So the building went from three-story to two-story. And the second floor now are leaning more toward luxury condos that will be bought by individuals.
Of course, the key tenant on the ground floor will be the Convention and Visitors Bureau. They’re located here because of the Tennessee Williams Home and the Art Park. We’re designing the whole site.
So did you divvy up how much space would be the CVB’s and how much would be office space? Or did they come to you and say we want X number of square feet?
Both. Our task is to look at their existing space and their needs and make a recommendation based on what they have now. If you see yourself growing and expanding, this is the layout that it would take to do that. And oh, by the way, we think it ought to be on the North end of the building.
When you see the site plan, we’ll have a nice corner entrance reminiscent of old town corners where you’ll have a column and an entrance. Where buses come in there’ll be a nice green grassy area out here where they can put up tents and have functions.
How did you determine what the shape was going to be?
What we felt was real important was to design a building that fit into the character and context of downtown. Mark, as the developer, wants to make money. But the great thing about Mark is he’s very sensitive to Columbus. He didn’t want to build something that was cheap or looked out of place.
We did look at a three-story building, given that you have the old (three-story) Masonic temple here. But it’s pared down to two stories now and we feel better about that. We also pulled the building off of college and Third Street South because this is an R-1 residential zone and we wanted to respect that. We could have built right up to the property line but we wanted to save these old oak trees that have been here forever.
Describe what we’re going to see on the inside.
The public will see a big lobby that connects to a board room. The way we designed it is we’ll have some big parting doors like you might find in an antebellum home so we can open up the boardroom to the lobby and flow like one space. The idea there is there’ll be plenty of room for displays. When you have some big tour groups you’ll have nice restrooms and a big lobby.
There are six offices, but it’s not a very big space. It’s got the offices, a small conference room, a big work area, a big storage area because the CVB needs a lot of space for brochures. Then you’ve got the big lobby and the big board room.
What about the condos upstairs?
There are eight condos upstairs and they all average about 1,100 square feet. We put real balconies because we thought that would be a good selling point and attraction. You can’t really have a bad view. That’s the great thing about this building. Any direction you look is a great view.
Did you intend to have housing upstairs instead of just a commercial building?
Class A office space is worth more than residential, so (Castleberry) could have gotten more money from an office, but as we know this is not a great economy. And in a lot of old downtowns there’s a demand for bigger square footage living space. You typically have buildings from the 1800s that never were intended to have residences on the second floor, but what do you do with that space? Retail only takes up the first floor.
Did you put a lot of pressure on yourself for this project considering this building will be many visitors’ first look at Columbus?
I think the biggest challenge for an architect is to try to do the best design with cost effective materials. If you have an open checkbook or unlimited budget it’s a little easier. To me the challenge is trying to build something so the developer and his partners are entitled to make money and something the community likes. You’re always cognizant of money. There’s no getting away from that.
How much does the project total and how hard was it to work within that budget?
I don’t know what the total number is now. (Recent estimates totaled $2 million.) Ronnie West, of West Brothers Construction in Columbus, is a partner. He’s also building the building. Even as it’s coming out of the ground we’re still looking for ways
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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