Architecture
Interior Design
- Type
Knitting Mill Apartments
Fall River, MA
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this former steam-powered textile mill is part of the original Wampanoag Mills complex, formed in 1871. Built with native Fall River granite, the 5-story 145,600 square foot structure has been transformed into 100 units of one- and two-bedroom age restricted affordable apartments for residents age 62+. The facility features a community space, fitness center and 6,000 square foot Flint Senior Center.
Extensive restoration and rehabilitation involved a challenging mix of renovation, preservation, and new interventions. The most difficult challenge became the coordination of the varying floor levels for a cohesive design layout that resulted in raising the Engine House floor elevation 3′-0″+/- to align with Mill #2 and the Picker House structures. Comprehensive masonry and structural restoration throughout the building also proved formidable for this long vacant property – with only twenty percent of the roof structure and cornice intact – nearly every roof beam required structural support by sistering with LVL beams.
Existing loading doors were salvaged, refinished and reinstalled at the north façade of the building and acoustical flooring underlayment was utilized allowing for the exposure of the existing wood decking in common areas, living spaces and bedrooms. The firm’s renovations also included 462 windows that were carefully dimensioned and replicated using thermally broken, Low-E glazing and reinstalled within the existing openings.
This reimagined structure is the second mill on the campus to be adapted by the firm. The first mill, Curtain Lofts, was completed in 2012.
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