Brown Shoe Factory Lofts Restoration

Project Details:
The Brown Shoe Factory sat vacant for a number of years. It was a foreclosure owned by Litchfield National Bank when it was purchased for the purpose of redevelopment for fixed income and low income housing. “This building is on the National Register of Historic Places,” said Housing Programs Coordinator Claudia Collins. “Some parts of it have to remain original.” So the challenge to William Reichert at EWR Associates’ was how to design the project to preserve the original brick structure, create energy efficient living space and do that on the uneven brick face of the building. Brown Shoe Factory Lofts is one building, four stories and will house 47 families for a total of 110,706 sq. ft.

As a designated Illinois Housing and Development Authority Energy Efficiency grant recipient, 2lb closed cell was specified by the architect on this job for the high R-value. The preservation of the factory was threatened by the original choice of 2lb Closed Cell foam. After several meeting and numerous discussions of the benefits of Icynene, The Illinois Housing and Development Authority agreed that the grant could be used for 4” fill because it would give an R-14.4 at 4” and would not trap moisture against the brick creating moisture and flaking issues solving the energy efficiency needs and the preservation of this important structure.

Additional benefits to the residents were not insignificant as the physical needs of the population that would be living in this building and was able to sell the energy efficiency and the lifetime warranty and the considerations of residents health needs. Many low income residents have severe challenges with asthma and allergy issues. The tax payers of Illinois will benefit from the low utility usage this building will represent. Local area health providers will benefit as many residents of this type of structure have a high incidence of asthma and allergy issues.