Roanoke’s Best Buildings

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The story below is a preview from our May/June 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you! 

One building is the best and the worst simultaneously, and our panel has some interesting selections, including food trucks.

The Roanoker asked a number of buildings professionals for their opinions on Roanoke’s Best Buildings recently and seven of them, representing various disciplines from architect to engineer, to interior designer and even to landscaping, for their opinions. Our panel was thus:

  • David Hill, landscape architect, Hill Studio
  • John Garland, engineer/developer, Garland Properties
  • Lenore Weiss, interior designer, Spectrum Designs
  • Monica Rokicki, architect, Better Building Works
  • Kevin Witter, architect/educator, Virginia Western Community College
  • Teresa Dorlini, interior designer/creative director, Circle Design Studio

Their opinions, and the reasons for them, varied widely. Here is the breakdown and commentary. 

Best New Building in Past Five Years

Hill picked the Greater Roanoke Transit Center because “In addition to the contemporary transformation of this unique site, the terminal features much safer and clearer boarding, and green design techniques. If you have the state museum of transportation next door, why not have a state-of-the art multimodal terminal right out front?”

Garland is partial to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute almost by default. “Quite frankly,” he says, “there are precious few to pick from over the past five years because of COVID-19 and the economy, but this building was selected primarily because of its use. Biomedical Park, along with the Carilion Medical School have been transformational to our Valley. As a former City Manager said, we have gone from trains to brains.  It also brought VT a little closer to us, with all of its positive influence.”

Rokicki likes the STEM Building at Virginia Western Community College, as does Witter. She says, “This high-tech contemporary building is sited just across from the recently completed Fralin Life Science Institute. The STEM building was designed to foster collaboration while providing blended 21st century laboratory space and classrooms that also connect the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields of study. Simultaneous improvements to Colonial Avenue included roundabouts at each end of the campus. Together, these most recent three projects have place-making power for the college and the community.”

Dorlini favors New Hope Christian Church, where a “simple metal building construction has made a cool new home for a thriving church. Designers met the church’s budget, and there is an interesting use of gabion walls” (retaining walks composed of stacked and stone-filled materials tied with wire).

Best Renovation of an Historic Building

Hill couldn’t decide on one, so he picked three: “Liberty Trust is an example of taking your worst (obsolete) place and making it your best place. Mast General for revitalizing a whale of an empty building. St. Andrew’s Catholic Church for making this landmark the best it could be, contributing to raising its status to Minor Basilica.”

Similarly, Garland, who specializes in renovations, couldn’t settle on one. “The Number 1 Fire Station had decades of service but grew old and out of date. It sat empty for years but was maintained. When it was released to private hands and ideas, it was allowed a second life. The Fire Station’s second life has exceeded expectations and fostered a boutique hotel.

“Center in the Square was a bold move, using [creative funding].” An old renovation was aging and “life needed to be envisioned. The interior architecture was transformational, creative and stunning.

“The Higher Education Center brought back to life the former Norfolk & Western Office Building which was donated to the city. This building was one of [Roanoke’s] post cards back in the mid-1900s because of its significant architecture, grandeur and use.”

Weiss, who did the interior work at Center in the Square, selected the Liberty Trust Hotel, explaining that “I would’ve done a couple of things differently but it is still a solid, well done renovation.”

Rokicki also likes Liberty Trust. “The ashlar stone and classical proportions of the 1910 Liberty Trust Building have always been a favorite ‘what if’ daydream for me. The recent renovation into a boutique hotel did not disappoint. The Vault restaurant is world class with its celebration of the full height main level, colossal interior columns, original vault doors and sensitive interior design.”

Witter selected the Freedom First Warehouse renovation at the intersection of Elm Avenue and Williamson Road because of its “successful adaptive reuse.”

Dorlini was impressed by Fire Station No. 1’s “great job of keeping historic parts of the interior intact like the old blackboard from the original fire station, hay pulleys, etc.”

Best Institutional Building

Weiss was all over this one: “The Taubman Museum of Art is both the best and worst building in Roanoke. I applaud the innovation, particularly on the exterior (still find it to be a bit of a Frank Gehry knock-off) but except for the one awkward hooked ‘curve’ I think it’s successful. There are a lot of missed opportunities on the interior. With all of the dynamic shapes on the exterior, I think it would have been more successful if those forms were expressed three-dimensionally on the interior.”

Hill’s choice is Vinton Library, “a recent exemplary model of downtown planning implementation. It is a stunning architectural statement that brings the town, and beyond, together.”

Rokicki agrees, after a fashion. The Taubman “is truly a building to appreciate in any number of poses (you may have to experience this to understand it), but I’m now convinced that the building is the embodiment of the ‘Warrior Two’ yoga pose: firmly present between unsentimental memory and visionary possibility. A lot like Roanoke, come to think of it.”

Garland chose a couple of high schools, Cave Spring and Glenvar. “Both took stodgy 1950s, ‘60s buildings, brought new life and vitality and endorsed the fact that better architecture could also be a teaching tool, an art to be respected. Both buildings incorporated modern teaching tools and standards. Both departed from low ceilings and monolithic floor/wall/ceiling finishes. They allowed them to soar to new heights, providing cool inspirational spaces in which to learn.”

Witter liked “the innovative design” of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science.

Best Commercial Building

Want to see more top picks from our region's building professionals in other categories like Best Commercial Building, Best Energy Conserving Building and Best New Home Built? Check out the latest issue, now on newsstands, or see it for free in our digital guide linked below!

The story above is a preview from our May/June 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!