Allentown, Pennsylvania
Designed to appeal to local creative types, 520 Lofts is a unique mix of classic Victorian architecture and modern influence. Bernardon skillfully married the two architectural styles to create an award-winning design.
At approximately 79,000 sq. ft., the six-story building includes a basement that is home to three artist studios. The first floor contains nearly 11,000 sq. ft. of office space. Above that, there are five stories of residential units (68 in total) ranging from studios to two-bedroom lofts. The owner describes the building's aesthetics as Hemingway meets Warhol... a distinctly creative urban vibe accented with graceful nods to classic Victorian motifs. Just steps away from the Allentown Art Museum, Arts Park and Liberty Bell Museum, 520 Lofts is perfectly suited to appeal to the creative crowd.
The building stands in the former location of the Crocodile Rock Café music venue, an iconic venue that saw famous pop, rock, hip-hop and country artists perform over the years. Bernardon made a nod to the site's history by using diamond-shaped metal shingles on the mansard roof to represent crocodile scales.