Woolen Mills
Woolen Mills
The historic Woolen Mills in Charlottesville, Virginia, once a prominent textile manufacturer from 1846 to the 1950s, lay dormant for decades after its closure. Encompassing 85,000 square feet, this historic site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, faced adaptive reuse challenges. Waterstreet Studio, along with architects, historians, and engineers, joined together to reimagine the space, preserving its history and ecological significance while revitalizing its modern significance.
The Woolen Mills, now the Wool Factory, stands as a tech hub and eco-recreational space seamlessly integrated into Charlottesville’s Rivanna Trail network. The renovated building hosts a brewery/restaurant, café, and offices, with outdoor areas accommodating meetings, collaboration, relaxation, dining, and celebrations. The design embraces the industrial aesthetic, using resilient, wild planting and raw materials like concrete and metal to complement existing infrastructure.
Addressing the site's steep slope to Moore’s Creek required careful grading for accessibility and waterway protection. Additional parking, conceived as green "rooms" with dense planting, creates a human-scaled environment, mitigating the heat-island effect and slowing stormwater runoff. Stormwater gardens along the creek’s edge enhance water purification using native plantings. Materials from the site, including stones from the 1830 dam disassembled in 2007, were repurposed in features like the council ring and seating areas.
CLIENT/PROJECT TEAM:
Brian Roy
3North Architects
Timmons Group
LOCATION:
Charlottesville, VA
PHOTOGRAPHY:
Ansel Olson
Kat McRose
AWARDS:
Virginia ASLA - Merit Award - 2024
PRESS:
The New York Times
