3 Pleasant Street
Honor Award // Excellence in Architectural Design, Rick & Duffy Monahon Award
Architect // JSA Design
GC // McNabb Properties
Civil Engineer // Ambit Engineering
Structural Engineer // JSN Associates
MEP Engineer // Petersen Engineering
MEP Engineer // WV Engineering
Landscape Architect // Woodburn & Company
Jury Comments
3 Pleasant street is a crafted example of restoration and re-invention existing successfully side by side. The existing masonry building was restored with exacting standards. The jury felt the new rooftop addition was conceived in a wonderful way by both being set back from historic building facades and being crafted in a contrasting, but complimentary form. New and old exist in a sympathetic way. The addition is in no way distracting to the historic bank’s facade; in fact, the jury found the addition’s round form to enhance the more stoic, square base building form.
The project did not stop at the building - the project successfully created spaces between it and the adjacent buildings. The jury found the images of bistro tables, adjacent restored arched top windows and the brick clad facade to be compelling - a place was created where the jury would like to share a meal. By saving the existing vault and creating a wine cellar within, the architect showed a great deal of sensitivity and ingenuity. The jury believes this will be a well-loved building and does what the architects set out to do: create a dynamic sense of place in downtown Portsmouth.
Description
3 Pleasant Street is an adaptive reuse building that comprises the first phase of Brick Market, a mixed-use project designed by JSA Design for developer McNabb Properties in downtown Portsmouth. The 23,992-square-foot red brick building dates back to 1794 and features three floors and a fourth-floor, copper-topped ellipse with roof decks overlooking North Church and Market Square. Formerly a bank, the high-ceilinged street-level space now houses a restaurant. Architecturally preserved features include large arch-top windows throughout the first level and a bank vault transformed into a wine cellar. Upper floors are now modern office spaces, many with exposed wood-veneer beams and high ceilings. Unobtrusive photovoltaic solar panels on the roof offset the building’s energy use and blend in with surrounding architecture, leaving the dramatic views unimpeded. Original copper-clad window sills and frames were retained and restored. Second and third floor windows feature brick returns and soldier headers with limestone keystones
