Title: The Excelsior Nightclub Redevelopment
Location of Proejct: Charlotte, North Carolina
Project Completion Date: N/A
Firm Name: Andre Johnson Architect, PLLC

Short Description: The Excelsior Club has been an important component in the Biddleville area of Charlotte North Carolina. The neighborhood and its surrounding communities have a largely African American population, which has utilized the club in a range of ways. Over the years, legendary performers such as Luis Armstrong and Nat King Cole performed there. Additionally, it has been the site of political organization, particularly during the Civil Rights Era. In 2018 a developer purchased the building and began efforts to reimagine the historic venue. Part of this process was hosting an invited competition to solicit conceptual designs for imagining the future.

Architect's Statement: The narrative which inspired our conception of the design is that the Excelsior Club, and the Washington Heights neighborhood, have a rich and inextricable history based in the African American community of Charlotte and the region. Our design response was influenced by several aspects of this history, from the legendary entertainers who performed at the club, to the fact that it was a critical social and political gathering place, and even the precedent of its Art Moderne architectural style in the city. We see the project as a means by which the members of the community can pay homage to and continue these legacies while writing their ‘current history’, always looking towards the future to define themselves as they see fit. A spirit of forward thinking which honors and draws from the past is at the core of our belief in what this project embodies architecturally, what it means to its transforming area of the city, and what it might inspire in the members of its community.

The existing building is in poor structural condition and has been gutted. Our approach was to rebuild 90% of the shell, preserving the aesthetic integrity of the original building. Approximately 25’ of the inner volume at the rear of the building has been replaced with glazing to connect the club to the internal court of the project. Part of the owner’s charge was to create flexible space within the project which can serve a range of functions throughout the day. The introduction of glass to the rear of the building allows for more natural light to illuminate the interior of the club and satisfies this request. During the evenings when the club functions as a music venue, theatrical curtains are drawn around the stage and the entire upper perimeter to provide appropriate acoustic conditions.

The project also provides a new 46 key boutique hotel and a museum commemorating the history of the Green Book. The general strategy was to allow the club component to occupy the corner of the site, which is the location of the original building. The transparent lobby of the hotel shows deference by lightly touching the club. The rest of the lower level of the hotel and the museum wrap the perimeter of the site creating a courtyard at the heart of the project. All the enclosure walls on the ground level, except for those that make up the front and sides of the club, are transparent allowing for a range of vantage points between the various pieces of program. The interior material palette of the ground floor is comprised of light tones to complement the white concrete of the club.

The upper two floors of the hotel are enclosed by black glass fiber reinforced concrete panels and structural silicone glazed curtain wall. The gently curving composition of the solid panels was conceptually derived from the fluidity and ingenuity of jazz music as well as from a synthesis of the predominant themes of Art Moderne architecture.