Brick + Beam Detroit

As part of Parsons’s Civic Design Fellowship, and in conjunction with IDEO and the Knight Foundation, Brick + Beam Detroit aims to make it easier for current and prospective people to rehab their buildings across the city and inclusively across skill levels.

Support for rehab in Detroit is a core element of the project, providing emotional and physical support for users who need help to get (or keep!) going. The project also demonstrates that rehabilitation/preservation is a force for dealing with vacant/abandoned properties in the city of Detroit.

The audience for the project was simple: any existing and prospective residents/property owners across Detroit as well as subcontractors, developers, and people interested in Detroit’s amazing architecture – all skill levels, all building types.

Coalescing in a kick-off event, work for Brick + Beam Detroit also included:

• • • • Classes: on-Site in buildings currently being rehabbed; peer-to-peer; and expert-led
      • Forum for promotion of other classes being held in Detroit (as part of the website)
      • Website and organizational materials for outreach and education
      • Financial incentives (federal, state, local/private, public)
      • List of salvage warehouses/supply stores
      • List of trades people who work on older houses
      • Historic Resources Directory
      • Mapping Stories/Profiles
      • Profiles of people and the aspects of their rehab stories that will be useful to others
      • Videos/DIY tutorials
      • Social Networking event structure; Happy hours
      • Fixer Upper Supper Club
      • Social Media
      • Email newsletter

Photos from Kick-off Event

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Brick + Beam Detroit Team Members:

• • • • Nancy Finegood, Executive Director | Michigan Historic Preservation Network
      • Claire Nowak-Boyd, Executive Director | Preservation Detroit
      • Ellen Thackery, Southeast Michigan Field Rep | Michigan Historic Preservation Network/National Trust