Camp North End – 701 Keswick + 201 Camp

As the next phase on the Camp North End campus, 201 Camp + 701 Keswick continues the dedicated effort to transform and preserve a significant portion of North Charlotte’s history. The existing building is a steel-framed 235,000sf warehouse with exposed wood roof decking and masonry walls. Portions of the building have been removed to allow for a future new construction phase & parking deck and to allow for the creation of the Keswick Avenue extension through campus. Where portions of the building were removed, select remnants have been preserved and exposed in keeping with the campus’ mantra “Keep the Character.”   

The original building, dating back to 1942, was constructed by the Army and used to produce and store supplies for the war effort. Today, the building will be used for office space (featuring a 70,000+sf contiguous space on a single level with mezzanines), retail, restaurants, and events. To increase connectivity through the site, Keswick Avenue was further extended through the building to connect to Camp Rd at the center of the site. In addition to allowing vehicular traffic to flow through, the primary goal was to promote pedestrian connectivity and engagement with the building. The extension of Keswick Ave through the building allowed for the opportunity to treat each section of the remaining portions as separate buildings with differing construction types – type II-B and III-B.  The mix of the two construction types presented several code challenges, including how the interior mezzanines within 201 Camp were to be constructed. 201 Camp also features a repurposed boiler room with direct access to a private roof terrace and mezzanine space that now serves as a primary entry for a future office tenant. 701 Keswick includes four different pavilion designs of the winners of ATCO’s “Black Architects Competition” that was held during the design process. These designs were translated into new small retail and restaurant spaces using a mixture of reclaimed and new materials. Adjacent to the pavilions, a Quonset Hut was constructed as a unique addition to the pavilion spaces. The Quonset Hut stays true to the Camp North End mantra of “keep the character” by letting the ribbed galvanized structure remain exposed. Additionally, with the adjacency to the future multifamily phase, a roof deck amenity was located on top of the Keswick Platform. The roof terrace features a private indoor/outdoor amenity space for use by the multifamily residents, as well as a covered terrace space for use by the event space located below. The original roof structure supporting the amenity space was thoughtfully strengthened and fireproofed to keep as much of the structure below exposed to view. The platform space below was left covered by the existing roof decking to create a shady, well-ventilated pedestrian path. 

The success of the project is already evident with a number of new or expanded small businesses having already opened this year.