Location
Richmond, VA

Project Size
42,000 SF

Project Budget
$11 million

Services Provided
Design Assist and Integration
Construction Management
Occupancy Readiness

Schedule
8 months

1717 INNOVATION CENTER

HISTORIC RENOVATION

Overview

1717 Innovation Center is a community-driven business incubator designed to help startups grow, compete and succeed in the tech and innovation ecosystem in Virginia and beyond. This facility was created to assist startups by providing office space, mentoring and leadership programs, community events and conferences.

Located in historic downtown Richmond, the 100-year old building offers 42,000 square feet of space and acts as a central hub by which members (up to 50 startup businesses at a time) can connect and collaborate.

Project Highlights

PSG’s Richmond team managed the program and design process as well as construction and readiness activities for 1717 investors, Capital One and Startup Virginia. This project won three prestigious awards:

  •    IIDA Award

  •    Merit Award – ENR MidAtlantic Best Projects

  •    Golden Hammer Award for Best Adaptive Reuse Project

This former tobacco warehouse in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom area, along the James River, was renovated into a state-of-the-art, six-story, 42,000 SF building including 25 private offices, shared, coworking and mentoring spaces, meeting rooms, common areas and a rooftop terrace overlooking the city.

Each floor features a theme, symbolic of the different Richmond neighborhoods. The space was designed to pay honor to the history of the building and try to preserve as much of the original structure as possible.

The columns and beams were power washed and left in place in their original state. The original wood floor, unable to be fully salvaged, was reused as wall cladding and installed in small areas on each floor and on the wall behind the bar at the Penthouse.

The original fire doors and hardware at the stairwells were preserved and left in place as architectural features. The wooden slat cart and horse elevator enclosure was dismantled and also used throughout the space.