The historic Wire Hardware Building was built in 1895 and is a protected landmark structure adjacent to the Rockville Metro station. When DB Capital bought the building as their new headquarters, they were confronted by many unexpected challenges resulting from the protected nature of the historic designation.

While changing use from retail to office is always tricky, the biggest transition occurred in the original hardware store salesroom. This space is long and thin, with beautiful wood floors and old handmade shelving units lining the long sidewalls. The Maryland Historic Society required that the existing spatial volume of this room remain intact. Overcoming the challenge of dividing this space into conference and office spaces was accomplished using 13’ tall glass walls that are coped around the shelving and do not actually touch the shelving. Working with Kensington Glass Arts and Dorma Hardware to develop special spider fittings to properly engineer the wall while adhering to the historical requirements resulted in a space that uniquely incorporates contemporary detailing within an historic environment.

View before and after PDF of the floor plan »