WATER+WORKS

Matthew and I started this site to keep our friends and family up to date with our latest adventure/disaster, the Water Works Project.  This section provides a little background information. 

Matthew, as you may know, is a brilliant and incredibly talented … well, I don’t know what to call him… he would have me say unlicensed architect, so I’ll go with that. After receiving their degrees in architecture, Matthew and a fellow classmate, Will, started a design-build company in Birmingham called Green Bottle Workshop.  Due to their own creativity and their training in Auburn’s Rural Studio, these two men can see an opportunity in ANY situation… and most of the time, an opportunity for Matthew involves something really old, broken, and often rusty.

 A few examples:  Matt likes to tell a story about finding an old school bus for sale, rounding up his friends to buy it, and planning to create “the ultimate tailgate vehicle.”  Luckily, Paul (the expatriate) stopped the purchase before any shirts were lost.  Also, I remember a road-side rescued 1950’s refrigerator that sat in our basement for a year, while Matthew’s dreams of fixing it up and using it as a “beer fridge” were never realized.  And speaking of road-side rescues, we recently had to thumb a ride from his mother when a joyride in his dream car, the 1972 Land Cruiser, turned ugly.  A wheel threatened to fall off and we had to make an emergency stop, but I will admit it was a fun ride up until that point. 

 What scares me a little bit is that… all of these stories make sense to me now.  I remember I used to laugh at Matthew’s ridiculous “opportunities”, but somewhere along the way he converted me… and this is where the Water Works story begins.

About a year ago, I began hearing about the “Water Works building,” a water filtration plant that had been zoned as a residential building and was on the market.  Matthew and Will started showing the building to clients as a potential remodel, drooling over the possibilities…but they never found anyone imaginative (or crazy) enough to go for it.  Matt talked about the place to anyone who would listen, doodled floor plans on napkins, and visited it often making sure it hadn’t been sold or torn down… he was obsessed.  I didn’t join him in this obsession - I was in no mood to deal with construction and packing, plus I had never even seen the place.  About a month after our wedding, he convinced me to go look at it.  This is where my brainwashing will be evident.  It was dirty, run down, overflowing with junk, smelly, filled with huge tanks, and most of all, it was ugly - but I loved it.  I could immediately see what he had been dreaming about for months… I walked through the dump and could picture a real house there… our house. The more I thought about it, the more obsessed I became.  It had to be our home.  A week later, we made an offer and began the process of making it ours.

-Mikel

OK, my turn. while i in NO way deny my appreciation for the rusty…. (i love me some rusty…. ) i find it important to note that the conversion is not yet complete.  we still have graffiti, tattoos, motorcycles, and auburn football.  i’ll call two of four a victory.  and as for the school bus, who among us hasn’t envisioned standing tall on a bus’s roof deck hollerin’ auburn fight songs late into the evening.  yes, that would have been a good time.   thanks p.  insurance shminshurance.

but on to the matter at hand.  i am incredibly excited about the opportunities this project presents.  mikel and i both loved the idea of living in a loft downtown, but knew that with all my junk and the dog, it wasn’t very practical.  the concept of this project is to have the same modern aesthetic; concrete floors, exposed duct-work, 13′ ceilings and yet be able to open the window and hear the local high school band on friday evenings, or walk down the street to nearby restaurants. 

the first step of the project will be demolition.  and there’s a lot of it.  the biggest challenge will be removing the tanks (did we mention they’re full of sand…) and cutting some new LARGE openings.  also, the drop ceiling, ‘vintage’ carpet tiles and fluorescent lighting will have to go. 

y’all check on us when you can. we’ll be posting progress shots along the way!