A BREATH OF FRESH AIR:
Larkin at Exchange
By Barry A. Muskat
Photography by kc kratt
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Each office space reflects the personality of its tenant.
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Original Larkin posters and other artifacts appear throughout the building.
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The attractive restaurant/cafeteria. Green and gold are colors that the Arts & Crafters favored.
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Larkin’s physical plant was staggeringly large in its day. As incredible as it may seem, the original complex was comprised of over two million square feet of floor space in a series of connected or related structures. The building we’re discussing was actually the Terminal Warehouse (buildings R, S, and T of the complex).
Some who’ve heard of the exciting renovation of this building in the Larkin District may have it confused with Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Larkin Administration Building. Although that was surely the showpiece of the complex, Wright’s design was lost to the wrecking ball in the 1950s. The Terminal Warehouse was occupied by Graphic Controls until it was renamed the Larkin at Exchange Building and bought by its current team of partners: Howard Zemsky, Bill Jones, Joe Petrella, and Doug Swift. (Zemsky is the past president of the Martin House Restoration Corporation and has been an dynamic mover, shaker, and leader in the success of that project.)
The building’s energy is vibrant. It has performed far ahead of all projections and is almost fully occupied with an interesting mix of tenants: three law firms, several financial institutions, an advertising agency, health care offices, Homeland Security, General Services Administration, political offices, engineers and architects, economic development agencies, an environmental firm, various media, and an insurance agency.
It boasts two lobbies and a full range of amenities for its tenants, including the Sweet Home Childcare Center, a convenience store, a First Niagara Bank branch, a health club, a copy center, and the Chautauqua Café. There is round-the-clock security seven days a week. The complex is handsome, bustling, and successful.
In many ways, this was the ideal structure to renovate. It’s a perfect rectangle with huge floor plates and wide expanses. Its clean lines, open floor plan, and crisp rectangular shape presented straightforward opportunities for an efficient layout. Elevator shafts were in place for good vertical circulation. (The converted freight elevators’ cars are massive.) The building’s footprint measures roughly 600 feet long by 100 feet wide, yielding 60,000 square feet per floor (a total of ten floors and 600,000 feet). “The building is a fortress,” states Zemsky, the managing partner. “It’s all steel-reenforced concrete, extraordinary construction in terms of thickness,” he continues. “As a warehouse intended to hold a lot of weight, it’s so over-designed—there’s absolutely no sway.”
Poster-sized black and white photographs everywhere illustrate the history of the structure. Freight trains literally rolled into the building and through today’s lobby. (Contrasting tiles in the lobby floor represent the path of the train tracks.) Zemsky points to a photo, noting, “You can see the juxtaposition of horse-drawn carriages against the modern warehouses; at the time the building was constructed, the face of America was changing.”
An attractive restaurant/cafeteria is inviting. Tables are topped with custom laminate, which show pages from the Larkin catalogues. A huge mural of the original complex covers an entire wall. A wonderful poster of a life-sized homemaker advertises Larkin Pure Food Groceries and Home Supplies. Able to seat several hundred, this is a high-energy spot for the 1,800 people who work in the building.
The building also has facilities similar to that of a conference center. Space can be rented: the Barton Room accommodates eighty and can be easily reconfigured for seminars, trade shows, or multiuses. The Martin Room provides a handsome boardroom setting. It can be booked for directors meetings or any type of conference table situation. It’s a nice amenity for firms in the complex, as opposed to each tenant needing to dedicate substantial conference room floor space in rental offices.
The Hubbard Fitness Center offers memberships and rows of exercise equipment. Treadmills look out a full wall of windows to great views. A beautiful park-like setting has been created on the Thruway side of the building offering tables, umbrellas, and seasonal outdoor seating in pleasant green surroundings.
The entire complex was fitted with all new windows (over 2,200), newly poured concrete floors, and new mechanical systems (electric, heating, cooling, and a standby power system). Stylish terraces dot the façade and were created specifically according to tenant requests. When the Graphic Control signs at the building’s upper corners were removed, the original signs with Larkin’s LCo logo were unexpectedly revealed. These were refurbished and are visible from a distance.
Many of the colors throughout the building are in the autumnal range—rusts, golds, greens—that both Wright and the Arts & Crafters favored. Every effort has been made to respect the most positive history of the building, while bringing its technologies and amenities into the twenty-first century. Original carts from the Larkin operation are still sprinkled throughout the building. (It’s amazing to note that a century ago, the company shipped over five thousand orders per day.)
Offices are each finished individually in a wide range of styles. The headquarters for a major law firm features deep red Brazilian cherry floors. Another tenant has bleached oak floors, stunning modern furniture, and museum-quality contemporary artwork. The spaces very much reflect the likes, personalities, and requirements of each tenant.
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The Harris Beach law firm headquarters features Brazilian cherry floors and classic furniture.
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We challenged ourselves to innovate and imagine something that most people felt was improbable at best or impossible at worst. In that sense, we feel connected to the history of the Larkin Company and to their spirit of innovation.
Howard Zemsky, managing partner
Larkin at Exchange Building
This district of the city—just east of Buffalo’s central core—was originally known as the Hydraulics, and was one of Buffalo’s first manufacturing areas, even prior to the incorporation of the city. The development team has built on that history and has worked with UB’s School of Urban Planning to create a master plan for the entire district. They intend to continue developing a multiuse district encompassing commercial, residential, and retail components. A site bordered by Exchange, Smith, and Seneca Streets will likely be the location of their next project.
Despite many naysayers who said it could never be done, the Larkin at Exchange Building is hugely successful. It illustrates the very best result of the adaptive reuse of a city’s existing building stock, restoring outmoded-yet-structurally-sound buildings for contemporary uses, and inserting new systems into old shells. The most positive result of a successful project like this can become the cornerstone for rebuilding a district, a neighborhood, and maybe even an entire city, piece by piece.
Barry A. Muskat is Spree’s architecture critic, sits on the city of Buffalo’s Preservation Board, and is a senior docent at the Martin House. He is a strong advocate for the city and for the adaptive reuse of its building stock.
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