T.Y. Fine Furniture Showroom
Designing a space to showcase beautiful, heirloom furniture
The T.Y. Fine Furniture Showroom is a historic, adaptive reuse of a mid-century modern library. ASTRA STUDIOS renovated and restored the structure back to its original open floor plan by removing the 1980s office buildout and dropped ceiling. The result allows daylight to flood the entire floor plate perfectly showcasing the beautiful, heirloom furniture within.
"The outcome was a perfect representation of how I would have designed it myself."
Tarik Yousef
Founder
T.Y. Fine Furniture
“This project couldn’t have been executed any better in my opinion. It left plenty of room for my business to grow and evolve with the space while being able to preserve a building with a lot of history and memories for the community.”
Tarik Yousef
Founder
Design Features
Through very light touches, the building was stripped back to its original shell, modern systems installed, energy efficient windows inserted in place of the outdated single-pane versions.
A gem of a building, full of local history, but in need of repair.
Project Overview
Tarik Yousef, founder of TY Fine Furniture, found a gem of a building. The old Beechwold Library had been repurposed as an office, its original open floor plan chopped up into tiny, dark rooms connected by dark, winding corridors.
The concept for the fix was obvious, remove the added walls and bring the building back to its original design. This building is a prime example how adaptive reuse can breathe new life into old buildings and how sometimes the best designs are ones that you cannot even tell are there.
The Results
By renovating this neighborhood icon, Tarik was able to provide a variety of positive impacts both economic and social in nature. This building allowed him to grow his business, create new employee positions, bring economic prosperity to his family, his employees and the local economy through tax revenue and sustainable job creation.
Additionally, Tarik is forging a path as an entrepreneur and is diversifying the local business community and through his representation he is helping others to see entrepreneurship as a viable option for themselves.
Client Testimonial
“
Being able to preserve a building with a lot of history and memories for the community was a core target for the project.
Building out a store for the first time leaves a lot of questions and concerns, but this project really couldn’t have been executed any better in my opinion. The design is truly a nearly perfect execution that left plenty of room for my business to grow and evolve with the space.
We struggled to find the right professional that had a vision in line with our expectations and brand. Amanda was very attentive and helpful in helping us realize our vision for the space. I was honestly shocked when I saw the first set of drawings that Astra Studios’ team had come up with. As a designer myself, I thought surely there would be several rounds of revisions. Surprisingly, the outcome was a perfect representation of how I would have designed it myself. Things we hadn’t even discussed yet were perfectly laid out and designed as if we had already gone through a multiple step design process.
Also, being able to preserve a building with a lot of history and memories for the community was a core target for the project. Everyday we meet members of the community who reminisce about going to the old Beechwold library as children.
Architecture in Columbus has become such a cookie cutter task, I feel that most new buildings truly lack character and interest. This was not a project where we planned to do what everyone else was doing. We were preserving a piece of history and making space in the community fabric.”
Tarik Yousef
Founder
tyfinefurniture.com
