3 principles to guide IHFC’s renovation in High Point – Opinion

Andmore is currently renovating the International Home Furnishings Center.

In 2020, I shared with Andmore, then International Market Centers, how important I felt the façade renovation of the IHFC is to both High Point and the High Point Market. Besides sharing seven effective façade designs from around the world with Andmore, I also offered three guiding principles gleaned from 20 years of research on downtown High Point development for my book Showroom City. These guiding principles are relevant today.

The first is to recognize the history of the building in the narrative of High Point residents and marketgoers.

In 1994, Tulane University architecture professor Grover Mouton was commissioned for a charrette by Mayor Becky Smothers. He echoed the sentiment many High Point residents have towards IHFC, saying rather humorously that the city must “come to terms with how unbelievably ugly that … building is.”

Why is IHFC ugly in the first place? The answer is simple. Throughout its one dozen additions, it was treated as a cash cow. Leaders gave notoriously little thought to how its exterior (and for decades, its interior) was perceived by the design-minded people it was serving. Replacing old boring cladding with new boring cladding will provoke apathy or resentment for not only these creative thinkers, but also the High Point residents who can see the giant carport from vantage points all over the city.

To change course, it is necessary for Andmore to make a bold statement with design. The exterior must speak to the beauty of the design that is within. Imagine an IHFC that’s not just easier on the eyes, but one that evokes pride in the industry. There are architecture firms and schools around the nation that would love to take on such a challenge.

The second guiding principle is that the building should have an open look.

Due to its many additions, IHFC is a labyrinth that makes anyone navigating it anxious to get outside. As Mayor Smothers once joked with me, “We probably lose people in that building that are never found.” Stories of this ilk are part of market lore.

While the building won’t be rebuilt, the exterior can still send a message of being open and accessible. This can be done through bright colors, window-like shapes or exterior illumination of the façade; all suggest that something bright and open is behind.

The third guiding principle is that, considering the history of the site, the renovation should have something in it for the community.

Let’s look at one case in point. In 1972, High Pointers voted to transform three historic buildings on the IHFC’s eastern block (all from the 1910s and 1920s: the old City Hall, fire station and Paramount Theatre) into a unique civic and performing arts complex. That’s when Bob Gruenberg came from Chicago to run the IHFC, taking over from Leo J. Heer, and finagled a lease of the old City Hall to the Big Building.

The civic center complex that High Point residents voted for? It was no more; the theater would be swallowed up by the IHFC where it is today. It would be a remarkable gesture and a great architectural improvement to have something on the Hamilton Street side of IHFC that clearly indicates that the theater is there and is for the residents of High Point.

The renovation is underway, and I’m holding my breath. The IHFC is the most visible building in High Point. What will it say to all of those viewing it, resident and visitor alike? It’s my hope that the renovation shows lessons learned from past mistakes.

John Joe Schlichtman is a Professor at DePaul University in Chicago and author of “Showroom City: Real Estate and Resistance in the Furniture Capital of the World.” Images and excerpts at @showroomcitybook on Instagram.