Oak Over Main
Location: Highlands, NC
Type: Commercial Renovation
Oak Over Main
Oak Over Main is a mixed-use renovation that strives to blend old world charm with modern world design. Our clients purchased a series of dilapidated and intertwined buildings on Main Street in downtown Highlands, NC with a vision to create fresh commercial spaces and contemporary rental apartments while staying true to the character of downtown Highlands.
Project Team
Builder: Lupoli Construction
Interiors: Alchemy Design Studio
Green Roof: Living Roofs
Structural Engineer: Prosim Engineering
MEP Engineer: Proficient Engineering
The four luxury apartments provide valuable and rare downtown lodging. Each apartment features its own private terrace that opens into the rooftop garden with walkways, native plants, and a communal patio overlooking Main Street. This green space connects guests to nature while still having the convenience of downtown living.
Apartment Interior
The redesigned facade along Main Street exposes an original clear span steel beam and uses recessed storefront glass to draw pedestrians in to explore the interior of the retail space. The exterior responds to the rhythm, materials, and scale of downtown Highlands. Our design solution also allows the retail spaces to be easily subdivided to maximize long-term leasing flexibility with minimal systems reconfiguration.
Oak Street Facade
The building language on Oak Street is less defined so our design introduces a warm mountain modern apartment entry and a new storefront retail space. The new facade design breaks up the existing single roof line into 3 distinct forms, creating a rhythm that matches the scale of the streetscape.
Main Street and Oak Street facades before renovation
Our process included aligning the project goals with the Highlands Community Plan’s goals: “to maintain and enhance the town center’s village character and blend with the natural environment.” The design also converted an existing loading zone on Oak Street into street trees, a sidewalk, and parking. The project is a catalyst that activates this part of town for other redevelopment – another goal of the Highlands Community Plan.
The existing buildings had been compromised in many ways by previous renovations and created numerous challenges to the project. Close coordination with our structural engineers redefined the 60-year-old buildings’ capacity and potential for higher value revenue. The creative effort of the clients and full project team was needed to transform these underwhelming buildings into a renewed and vibrant part of the historic Highlands village.