From High Spirits to High Tech

Nottingham-Spirk, a high-tech firm based in Cleveland, OH, will adaptively reuse a landmark church as commercial space. The church, which overlooks Little Italy on Cleveland's East Side, is "one of the most visible and beautiful landmarks in the city....The hope is that the church's soaring architecture will foster creativity and help the company design and market new products, win new patents, spin off new companies and give Nottingham-Spirk room to grow....The balcony above had plenty of space where the partners could house small, start-up companies to market new products created by the designers. A choir loft on the balcony looked perfect for audio-visual presentations. The church's Sunday school, two levels beneath the sanctuary, had plenty of space where engineers could create prototypes. Finally, a pair of rooms just off the main sanctuary could be used for focus groups."