The North Florida Land Trust is a nonprofit organization committed to protecting and preserving the natural heritage of North Florida. And while their scope of interest is primarily land, it only makes sense that they would adaptively reuse a historic building when they began to outgrow their previous office space. Brewster Hospital was the selected building and it was ripe with Jacksonville History and potential and was already on The National Register of Historic Places. The building was constructed in 1885 as a residence and is said to have one of the most remarkable Victorian gingerbread porches in Jacksonville. The Brewster nurses took over in 1901, just after the great fire and started the first and only hospital and nurse training facility for African-Americans, in Jacksonville. It was restored and relocated downtown by the City of Jacksonville in the mid-2000s, where it sat patiently waiting to house a new team of passionate changemakers pushing for positive change.

We were thrilled with all of the original details and reproduction lighting and hardware this building came with. It was a perfect canvas to do something really special for the folks at NFLT. The biggest challenge was furnishing a once historic home with modern office furnishings, while making it all feel cohesive and intentional. We decided that working with a traditional palette of wood tones, warm greys, soft blues and cream, we could use the finish selections to bridge the gap. The furnishings have simple silhouettes lending themselves to a more transitional environment, with subtle historic elements such as tufting and wing-back chairs. A custom cedar conference table and wood stump side table bring the outdoors in and give a subtle nod to the natural environments the NFLT so passionately protect. Because of their unwavering commitment to employee-well being, we designed each private office with an adjustable height desk for sit/stand alternation. Highly ergonomic offices paired with large windows of natural sunlight and downtown views, and the North Florida Land Trust is truly thrilled with their new workplace experience.