| Paul Sires and Ruth Ava Lyons Historic
North Charlotte
The
Joseph Sykes Brothers Company Building is located on South Mint
Street in what was formerly one of Charlotte's principal industrial
and warehousing zones. The Sykes Company manufactured card machinery
used in cotton production in this one-story factory building until
the 1970s. With its brick exterior and restrained Classical detailing,
the Sykes Building is one of the best-preserved factories remaining
in Charlotte.
The building's current owners, Brian Hill and Paul Jamison, completed
the adaptive rehabilitation of the Sykes Building in 2002. The
unassuming factory now houses an internet design firm and boasts
a dynamic interior designed by McClure Nicholson Montgomery and
Severs Architects.
The exterior remains little changed and serves as a good example
of restraint in restoration. However, the interior is filled with
exciting surprises such as a library built into the old furnace
room in the basement and a basketball court in the former location
of the factory's loading dock.
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