The Charleston Cigar Factory
Weaver Capital Partners
Design Awards:
The National Trust for Historic Preservation | Preservation’s Best of 2015
The Preservation Society of Charleston | Carolopolis Award | 2015
BD+C | Reconstruction Award: Silver | 2016
The project is a historic rehabilitation of the Charleston Cigar Factory, a Victorian industrial building built circa 1882 as the Charleston Cotton Mills. In 1903, the plant was leased to the American Cigar Company which operated the factory until 1973.
The scope of the project was to rehabilitate the existing 230,000 SF building into a mixed-use development including 50,000 SF of retail restaurant and event spaces, and 180,000 SF of authentic loft office space.
Preservation and rehabilitation efforts focus on restoring the look of the building to its historic appearance while adapting the interior to contemporary usage. This includes the demolition of several large modern additions, removal of brick-infilled windows and inappropriate glazing, restoration of original windows surrounds, and new energy-conserving operable windows that replicate historic construction. At ground level, a retail promenade will invite public interaction with this revitalized Charleston icon.
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SSOE is currently piloting software that puts a copilot engine in Revit. Using Natural Language Processing (NLP) we can prompt Revit activities such as cleaning up parameter data, annotation, dimensions, sheets and then can share and deploy automations to co-workers in different workspaces within a project. Transforms traditional process of scripts >> write the code, execute command upon an SME directing. (see transcript)
Github Copilot we’re deploying with our Software Development Community so they can utilize a NLP interface and access Github enterprise knowledge to expedite advance coding. https://github.com/features/copilot – gives them the ability to utilize an agent to help with “manual” process of writing code that then they can polish, make happen.
We helped our client visualize and optimize façade design for occupant comfort—long before breaking ground through the use of the Autodesk Forma tool. It allows the designer to rapidly experiment with the building’s geometry and façade design to discover the most suitable form, prioritizing quality of spaces and comfort for end uses, especially in extreme climates (daylighting and microclimate analysis tools) at the project’s exact geographic location, using location-specific environmental data.
SSOE is utilizing Microsoft Copilot to significantly enhance work efficiency and accuracy across various departments. Copilot is accessible to all staff after training. Key areas of application include using it as a writing assistant, for idea generation, document summarization and generation, research assistant, excel assistant, programming code assistant, language translations, product comparison and data analysis. Use of Copilot has become part of the everyday life of SSOE employees who have identified key ways it can help them become more efficient with their daily tasks as well as more accurate in their deliverables.
75% of SSOE employees have taken the training / have access to Copilot with a goal of 100% by the end of PY25.
We found ourselves in need of a more robust tool to enhance resource forecasting and staff assignment capabilities. Instead of waiting for the perfect tool, we’re building it. SSOE’s in-house technology team has developed and piloted a tool that aims to forecast optimal staff mix and duration for new projects against existing workload to better understand capacity and manage resources efficiently. Additionally, the tool will allow teams to estimate staff requirements and identify gaps.