With former uses including a Mexican restaurant and more recently as a Goodwill store, this commercial space had grown tired and dingy before a major exterior remodel by the landlord and a new anchor tenant brought it back to life. Further, the landlord chose to relocate the shared bathrooms and provide common area as needed for electrical panel access. While the interior space still had piles of old T-shirts left in the corners, the client and the contractor could visualize the transformation into a new Karate school with the tall ceilings, clerestory windows and a transition in ceiling heights.

As both owners of the company are Black Belt martial artists themselves, they had a clear understanding of the client’s needs: Workout space for twenty to forty people concurrently, seating and viewing areas for other family members who are not taking classes, changing rooms for the students, and office and “pro shop” space for sales of services and gear. Often, on testing nights the space will need to accommodate one hundred or more students and their families, cheering them on through multi-hour test routines

To read a complete project description, choose one of the following links:

Kicking Room (PDF @ 462K)
Kicking Room - small (PDF @ 107K)