DESIGNING SPACES for RESTORATIVE REINVESTMENT
Completed in 2024, The LOVE Building is a commercial development redesigned as the permanent home for a collective of Detroit justice nonprofits, with office spaces, multi-purpose community gathering space, retail, and restaurant space.
Photo credit: Steve Hall
Designing Justice + Designing Spaces was hired by Allied Media Projects – working with local architects of record Centric Design – to conduct a feasibility study for adaptive reuse of the building and site including: Concept Development Package and Community Engagement.
DJDS also brought in global leaders in engineering Arup, as well as Landscape Designer Azzurra Cox, to support the creation of several aesthetic designs and financial models for acquiring the capital to build the vision.
Status: Construction completed 2024
Project: Mixed-use Development, Adaptive Reuse (28,000 sq ft.)
City: Detroit, MI
Client: Allied Media Projects
Project & Program Partners: Detroit Justice Center, Detroit Narrative Agency, Detroit Community Technology Project, Detroit Disability Power, Centric Design Studio, Quinn Evans Architects (ARC)
Team: Deanna Van Buren, Kyle Rawlins, Oretola Thomas, Sabrina Siskind, Prescott Reavis, Centric Design Studio (Saundra Little, Shanita Rutland, Damon Thomas)
Community Engagement Workshops: Redesigning a historic Detroit building, with Detroit partners
DJDS worked with Allied Media Project and four of their partners — Detroit Justice Center, Detroit Community Technology Project, Detroit Narrative Agency, and Detroit Disability Power — to redesign the historic building.
DJDS hosted workshops to help the organizations visualize the new look and feel of the exterior and interior spaces of the building.
Visioning question: What kind of spaces do you want in the design?
Top 3 Themes:
- Collective Spaces for action and creativity with community
- Open, casual meeting spaces – indoor and outdoor
- Spaces for breaking bread
Designing for Social Cohesion
The repurposed building, which includes office space for the five partner organizations, is also a community hub supporting the local neighborhood and Detroit at large, being located directly on one of Detroit’s four major transportation arteries. The work of DJDS with The LOVE Building also served as a catalyst for a new vision for activating the power of place as a force for justice, transformation, healing, and liberation: Grand River @ 14th.
Learn more about our projects:
Restore Oakland |
Women's Refuge Trailer |
School on Wheels |