DESIGNWORKS 2023

Rosewood Church Development

Columbia, SC

Garvin Design Group

Adaptive reuse of Rosewood Church for new use as apartments reinvigorated a beloved but abandoned neighborhood landmark. Designers were challenged to reimagine the sprawling, institutional building to create sophisticated apartment homes. Interior spaces needed to honor the building’s past as a church while creating fully modern apartments. Interior design for the transformed Rosewood Church ushers an old building into a new era.

Elements of the old sanctuary are preserved, including the existing vaulted ceiling, pendant lights, stately chandeliers, and wood wainscoting and windowsills. The sanctuary’s bright red entry doors, stained-glass window in the front façade, and the steeple remain, recalling the building’s original use. Midday light through the preserved stained glass window casts one loft unit in the sanctuary’s old balcony space in a multi-colored kaleidoscope of color.

The wood-look luxury vinyl tile (LVT) used in apartment unit floors and stair treads references the preserved features in the sanctuary. Neutral tones in the new corridor carpet, new door frames and baseboards, ceiling and wall paint, and kitchen and bathroom cabinetry manifest an air of modern sophistication. Dark ceiling paint in the corridors helps exposed utilities fade overhead. White ceiling paint in the apartment units does the same inside apartment units. A dark green accent color subtly demarcates new interior spaces and provides comforting contrast to the predominantly neutral palette. The dark green accent color envelopes in the new library and lounge spaces in a sense of calm and marks the transition between the old classroom building and the new three-story addition at the center of the site.

Character-defining features are preserved in the sanctuary and classroom buildings, and interior spaces are divided to honor the building’s original use as a church. New fixtures and finishes help the old building feel new again. Color and material palettes throughout the building are befitting its modern use as apartments without completely renouncing its original use as a church.