Avant

Adaptive Reuse of the Former Dulski Federal Office Building

The Avant project began with acquisition of a vacated federal office building and a vision to create a 24-hour, mixed-use facility in the heart of Buffalo’s Central Business District. The project was developed as a competition-winning design for the adaptive reuse of the obsolete 15-story, 450,000 sq. ft. federal office building.

The mixed-use space program includes a full-service hotel on the first seven floors, Class-A office space on floors eight through twelve, and luxury condominiums on the top three floors.

The design solution includes a new, 2-story glass lobby addition and replacement of precast concrete panels with a high-performance glass and aluminum unitized glass curtain wall. A continuous, double-curved façade extension acknowledges the primary building address on Delaware Avenue while creating dramatic views from interior spaces.

Site improvements include a new vehicular drive for hotel guests and visitors. Existing perimeter retaining walls were partially removed and enhanced with landscaping to provide a more pedestrian-friendly transition to the public sidewalks. Street trees were also added to enhance the urban pedestrian experience.