The Gilbert Building
Beaumont, Texas
Bird's eye view
via Google Earthview from Pearl Street
via Google EarthAbout the Building...
Built: 1903 by John Gilbert
Architectural Style: Sullivanesque office building
Sulllivanesque Architecture:
This style of architecture is based on the work of Louis Sullivan. Features commonly seen in Sullivanesque architecture includes:
- multistory buildings
- ceiling to floor windows
- regular & boxy shape
- typically used for office buildings
The Issue...
The Solution...
proposed floor plan
This is just an example of one of the 3 floors able to be renovated. By taking offices and converting them into bedrooms, each with 2 people in it, that gives possible shelter to 102 people. Some of the challenges that would be faced is turning smaller offices into bathrooms, which would require routing water lines into those rooms and installing appliances. Another issue would be the zoning of the building. The Gilbert building is zoned as commercial, but that can be changed for good cause. The location of the building is a very short block from several necessities such as a post office, schools, court houses, etc.