2025 Preservation Awards | The Laundry
Friday, May 16th 2025
WINNER | Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (commercial, institutional, rental, or municipal)
The Laundry | 2046 Talley Street
Avant Laundry Bull Street QOZB, LLC — Property Owner
Tripp Riley, Studio 2LR — Architect
James Weathers, Weathers Contracting — Contractor
Adaptive use of historic buildings has played a key role in the success of Columbia’s BullStreet District realizing its full potential. Rehabilitation of the circa-1883 laundry building marks the latest chapter in the decades-long transformation. As the oldest surviving service building on the former South Carolina State Hospital campus, the facility originally housed the hospital campus’s steam laundry, engine and boiler rooms, and electric light plant. Rebuilt after a fire in 1897, this utilitarian building remained in operation as the Department of Mental Health’s central laundry until being succeeded in 1963 by a modern plant.
Following a plan by Studio 2LR, Weathers Contracting deftly executed the dramatic rehabilitation of the historic laundry, which had stood vacant for decades. As site’s long vacancy empowered its owners to apply abandoned building tax credits to offset construction expenses such asbestos abatement, installing a standing-seam metal roof while retrofitting clerestory vents, skylights, and cupola to meet current building code requirements and preserving the exposed historic heart pine decking and trusses throughout the interior; installing modern, architecturally accurate windows in formerly bricked-in openings and restoring original operable steel-sash windows; and removing paint from exterior brick walls, granite windowsills, and cast stone accents.
Interior spaces which one teemed with workers processing laundry today feature sealed concrete floors; exposed rustic brick walls, and patches of historic plaster finish, in addition to railroad ties historically repurposed as structural columns. To pay homage to the building’s original purposes, a refurbished one dryer rests in the main lobby for display while two 48” diameter perforated metal dryer drums were integrated into custom chandeliers. The combined efforts of restoration and sensitive rehabilitation have transformed a formerly forlorn building into a unique, multi-purpose destination within the bustling district.
Before photos courtesy property owner. After exterior photos courtesy Kickstand Studio. After interior photos courtesy Staci Weathers Design Studio.
Before & After | Exterior
Explore the
Economic Impact Study
This study's findings reinforce our long-held position on the importance of historic preservation for the city's economy and support our work advocating for policies that encourage preservation and the reuse of historic buildings. Columbia’s architectural heritage is not simply an exercise in nostalgia; it is an informed, strategic investment in the future.
Check out some of the other 2025 Preservation Award recipients:
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