This post is part of the MODERN CHARLESTON project, an architectural survey of buildings built in the Charleston Historic District from 2000 to 2015.
Overview
This page is intended to serve as a guide to reading the survey and understanding the building documentation in our Modern Charleston project. It contains a short explanation for each item included in the survey.
Who should read this? In particular, people who are not as familiar with Charleston or researchers/visitors who are interested in the documentation process may find this guide helpful. For trained professionals and residents of Charleston, some of the information may be redundant.
For any questions or for reporting any inaccuracies, please get in touch via our Contact page.
I. General Property Information
Name(s): When applicable, this field lists the most common name or names used for a project in publications, marketing materials, and general discussion.
Architect/Developer: The names of the architectural firms and developers included in this field are usually limited to the primary ones involved on the project. Every building that gets built, however, is the work of numerous individuals, companies, professional tradespeople, craftsmen, and sub-contractors; unfortunately, this project couldn’t include on this list all of the parties involved in the design, construction, landscaping, and marketing/leasing process.
Date Completed: The date given in this field is based on information published in newspapers, on announcements and press releases, and on other publicly available sources. Whenever possible, every attempt was made to give an accurate month and year that the building was completed and ready for occupancy.
Date of Survey: This item refers to the day that we documented and photographed this particular property.
II. Location Information
Address, Latitude, Longitude, Parcel Number, Acres, Zoning District: The data in these fields are based on information from Google Maps or the Charleston GIS Interactive Zoning website, a highly useful reference.
Neighborhood District: The Charleston Peninsula is comprised of many different neighborhood associations, each with its own unique characteristics and community network. Some of these districts include: South of Broad, Harleston, French Quarter, Ansonborough, Radcliffborough, Mazyck-Wraggborough, Cannonborough/Elliotborough, and several more. These can be see on our map:
III. B.A.R. Submittal & Review Process
What is the B.A.R.?: The Board of Architectural Review (BAR) of Charleston, South Carolina was established in 1931 in conjunction with the creation of the first historic preservation ordinance in the United States. To help maintain and protect the historic district of Charleston over time, the purpose of the board, as stated in the City of Charleston Zoning Ordinance, is “the preservation and protection of the old historic or architecturally worthy structures and quaint neighborhoods which impart a distinct aspect to the city and which serve as visible reminders of the historical and cultural heritage of the city, the state, and the nation.” Today this means the BAR reviews alterations to historic properties and proposed new structures in the historic districts, while following the principles established by the Charleston Standards.
A tremendous thank you and credit is due to the Charleston Historic Foundation’s interns in Spring 2015 for gathering all of the dates and information in this section related to the BAR submittal process for the buildings in this survey.
B.A.R. District: The majority of properties on the Charleston peninsula are subject to a range of planning and zoning requirements. The BAR specifically reviews all new construction, alterations, and renovations visible from the public right-of-way within the historic districts, which include the ‘Old & Historic District’ and the ‘Old City District’. See the BAR Boundaries Map here.
Conceptual: This date refers to the conceptual round of BAR Submittal Requirements. Per the information on the BAR website: “Review of the general height, scale, mass and 3-dimensional form of a building or an addition to an existing building, and the general architectural direction and quality of the project as it relates to its site, its neighborhood, and the City of Charleston. This phase defines the overall quality and architectural character of the project. A pre-design conference with the City Architect/Preservation Officer may be required prior to application for Conceptual Review.”
Preliminary: This date refers to the preliminary round of BAR Submittal Requirements. Per the information on the BAR website: “Review of the development of the conceptual design and its relationship to its context in terms of the project’s details, materials and finishes. This phase defines the level of quality of construction, and the relationship of the buildings’ components to surrounding buildings and to one another. A pre-design conference with the City Architect/Preservation Officer may be required prior to application for Preliminary Review.”
Final: This date refers to the final round of BAR Submittal Requirements. Per the information on the BAR website: “Review of the completion of the preliminary design based on completed construction documents and material specifications, consistent with the level of quality of the previous phases.”
Conditions/Changes: This field lists a summary of any conditions or changes requested.
Setback: This field refers to any specific setback requirements.
IV. Building Description
Building Type: The options for this field included, for example:
- Residential
- Commercial
- Educational
- Institutional
- Medical
- Hotel
- Retail
Height: All building heights have been provided in feet and inches. Credit is due to the Charleston Historic Foundation’s interns in Spring 2015 for gathering the building height information. For the tags used on each of the posts, we grouped the heights into four ranges:
- 30′ to 50′
- 50′ to 65′
- 65′ to 90′
- 90′ and up
Square Footage: This number is based on information from the BAR submittal process or from published newspaper articles. Credit is due to the Charleston Historic Foundation’s interns in Spring 2015 for gathering the square footage information.
Number of Floors: This number is based on direct observation of the properties or from published architectural renderings (in the case of not-yet-completed buildings).
Framing: This refers to the primary construction methods/materials used to give the building its structural support and shape.
Primary Exterior Materials: This refers to the primary materials used to finish and form the building’s exterior walls. These can be either load-bearing or non-loading bearing materials (also called veneer).
Cost of Project: Most of the buildings included in this survey have publicly published data regarding the cost of the project. This value is given in USD.
V. Ownership Information
Ownership Information: This field refers to the general status of the building. The options for this included:
- Publicly-Owned
- Privately-Owned
- Owner-Occupied
- Tenant-Occupied
- Open to Public
Status: This field refers to building occupancy in general. The options for this included:
- Occupied
- Unoccupied
- Under Construction
Name of Owner: The information provided here is based on either the Charleston GIS Interactive Zoning Map records or on published newspaper articles. Several of the buildings in this study have changed ownership in the past few years since the time of their original construction.
Name of Occupant(s): For commercial or educational buildings, the current tenants or occupants have been listed. In the case of residential buildings, due to privacy reasons and lack of confirmed data, this field has been filled in generally as ‘private individuals’.
VI. Photographic Documentation
All photographs used and published as part of the Modern Charleston survey were taken by our team in June 2015.
**High-resolution photos are available upon request.**
We intended to capture each property in a way that would be useful to people like us – architects, designers, 3D modelers, BIM specialists, researchers, students, and the general public. This means taking a large range of photos showing both the details of the building and the building as a whole, as well as capturing the surrounding context, landscape, parking, and other street entourage.
We are not, however, professional real estate photographers, whose photographs tend to showcase a building in the best possible way and in an almost surreal, illuminated light. This is oftentimes accomplished by using specialized lenses or heavily-edited production techniques; one of the downfalls of this approach is that such photos can be misleading and misrepresentative, making an ugly building look good.
In conclusion, our aim was to provide a comprehensive yet objective photographic documentation of the buildings that have been completed through minimally-processed, every-day life photos. We then used Adobe Lightroom 6 and Adobe Photoshop CC to edit all of our photos for visual clarity. We also cropped or blurred out license plate details, faces, and some signage out of respect for privacy.
VII. Location Map
We built an OpenLayers 3.0 map and we coded our own custom Javascript files to create a side-by-side map showing the property location. On the left is a street view map, and on the right is a satellite aerial map. The two views are bound, so if you move the location on one map, the other one moves with it.
VIII. More Information
In this section, we included links to articles and relevant websites where you can find more information about the property, building design, construction updates, and more. All links were accurate as of July 2015.
IX. Disclaimer
The information presented in the Modern Charleston project is intended for general reference purposes. Every effort has been made to provide information that is accurate. However, materials contained in this website are subject to change. We give no assurance or warranty that information on this site is current, and take no responsibility for matters arising from changed circumstances or other information or material which may affect the accuracy or currency of information on this site. The information posted here should not be considered planning, legal, financial, architectural or other advice and is not intended to replace consultation with a qualified professional or specific written confirmation from relevant Charleston city planning departments.
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