2003 Preservation Award Winner

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.

Other Past Award Winners

Paul Sires and Ruth Ava Lyons: Historic North Charlotte