the Grumpy Rabbit {before}

Jun 15

In the early months of 2020, we were invited to take a look at a space with some local friends. They had purchased a building in the heart of Lonoke’s downtown and were starting to dream of what the possibilities were for the space. (Natalie was no stranger to the building — it’s actually where Shine got its start!)

Not only were our clients looking to renovate the space, but they were also looking to develop a full-fledged restaurant concept that would infuse life, color, and bring really (really!) amazing food to Lonoke’s downtown.

The 5,000 sf building had experienced its share of layers of years of different uses— but behind the drop-down ceilings, vinyl floor coverings, and partitions, was a building waiting to shine.

From the beginning of the project, Gigi and Grumpy invited us to be “all-in”. We met weekly as a design team in the early stages and then those weekly meetings grew to include Thrive's branding and marketing team, the team from Hart Construction, landscape architect, kitchen consultants, a/v consultants and eventually the chef and restaurant staff. When you meet every week for a year, especially through 2020, there’s a strong bond formed! We wholeheartedly are cheering them on and will continue to rave about the creative investment and impact the Grumpy Rabbit is making.

You know we love a good transformation story and this is one we are excited to share. We will share some of our favorite moments in the project and highlights over the next couple of weeks!

Our “before” images are taken after the initial site clean out. This gave us the opportunity to properly document the site and see what we were facing. While the building was structurally sound, extensive accommodations for plumbing, electrical and hvac were needing to transform the building into a space that could safely and comfortably support a full commercial kitchen and restaurant space. We desperately wanted to keep some of the distressed paint and finishes and did where we could — the lead-based paint abatement process ended up dictating the wall finish. In order to meet requirements for historic tax credits, we did not remove any additional plaster and kept as much intact of the exterior walls as possible.

Adaptive reuse project are not for the faint-of-heart — on both the client side and the design team. We try to see the challenges a historical building presents as opportunities for creative design solutions and the end result was a carefully crafted space that demonstrates the push-and-pull of the old vs. new in a delightful way. We are deeply grateful to have been a part of the team that brought this space to life.

Be sure to check out the “afters” in our Portfolio and check back for insights into the design process, furniture selection, and some of our favorite ways we honored the history of the building and the repurposing of reclaimed materials in the project.

First Floor (before)

Underneath the drop-down ceiling was a beadboard ceiling that we worked to preserve. The old hvac sytems were removed and we were delighted to find transom windows hidden behind the soffits in the front windows.

First Floor (before)

There was a concrete block vault at the rear of the building. We ultimately decided on its removal to make way for the kitchen area.

2nd Floor (before)

View looking towards the rear of the building. The spaces in front of the windows would become with owner’s office, the manager’s office, and the door to the patio.

First Floor (before)

There was some water infiltration issues, so the back areas that housed a restroom and storage were one of the first things removed. This area would become the kitchen and back corridor leading to the patio

First Floor (before)

This was one of our first glimpses at the full height of the ceiling and we were delighted with how open it made the space feel.

2nd Floor (before)

The windows were in fair shape — with some careful restoration work, they are now functional and restored. The shaky attic ladder became an artifact-turned-art display.

2nd Floor (before)

We loved seeing where previous offices had been partitioned off. They were long gone when we started on the space. This was also a peek into what the historic baseboards would have been. This was used as a template for the baseboards used throughout the space.

Mezzanine (before)

The rear stair and mezzanine may have worked for the mercantile in its early days, but the stairs didn’t quite fit today’s code requirements. While this had to be removed to make way for safer passageways, all of the wood salvaged from it was cleaned and reused in other areas of the project.

Back Elevation (before)

A hodge podge of utilities, odd fill-ins and blocking, but we were all determined this could be an amazing spot to dine. One of the old fire-suppression shutters can be found as a base to the private dining room table.

Doors

As we researched the building’s history, we learned that these doors were originally on the exterior of the building. We knew they had to be reused in the design and they found there way to the conference/private dining area on the 2nd floor.

Radiator

This guy was a beast. Incredibly heavy and somehow on the second floor. We incorporated it into the hostess stand design—bringing a little quirky and historical touch to the waiting area.