(Baltimore) The Sun(c) 2002 Baltimore Sun. All rights reserved.

MINT CONDITION 
A rock-solid old safe deposit building is reborn as an upscale party palace on Redwood Street.

THE BALTIMORE SUN
 - Saturday December 29, 2001

By: SUN ARCHITECTURE CRITIC Edward Gunts


The old red bank at Calvert and Redwood streets survived the 
Great Fire of 1904, which destroyed most of Baltimore's financial district.

But it seems to have  caught  fire this winter, after a $2.5 million renovation
turned  it  into  the  city's  hottest  new nightclub and party
palace.

Every  week,  hundreds  of  revelers  deposit  $10 per person to venture
inside Redwood Trust,the cavernous entertainment center created inside the
old Mercantile-Safe Deposit and Trust Co. branch.

What they find is a bank transformation unlike any other: Teller windows
have  given  way  to a well-stocked bar. The walk-in vault is a VIP lounge.
Bank  offices  were replaced by a sushi bar and gift shop. And at the heart 
of  it  all  is  a  circular dance floor, featuring a $200,000 Phazon sound
system.

Since opening in November, Trust has drawn more people than the building
ever did as a bank. They're staying late into the night - adding life to a
stretch  of  Redwood  Street  never known  as a party spot. Many come away
impressed.

"It's the sort of place you'd expect to find in New York or South
Beach,"  said  Gino  Cardinale,  co-owner of the City Cafe in Mount Vernon.
"It's something new for Baltimore."

"You  can  be  part  of the crowd or escape to a quiet spot downstairs,"
said  Shelly  McNeil,  who drove up from Washington with her boyfriend on a
recent weekend. "It's very well done."

The crowds are a vindication of sorts for the owner, Baltimore developer
Nicholas Piscatelli.Preservationists had feared the building would be torn
down  for  a parking lot. But Piscatelli bought it for $500,000 in February
2000 and began renovations several months later.

Piscatelli said he saw a need for an upscale nightclub that would appeal
to  office  workers, hotel guests and conventioneers as well as the growing
number of people living downtown. He said he realized the 1886 bank was the
perfect location as soon as he stepped inside.

"We looked at a couple of old theaters before we saw this," he said. "It
took  me  two  minutes,  and I knew this was the place. I just fell in love
with it."

Besides  serving  as  a  center for night life, Trust is also one of the
most ambitious restorations to be completed in Maryland this year.

Designed  in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by Wyatt and Sperry, the
building  at  200  E.  Redwood  St.  has 18,000 square feet of space and is
considered  one  of  the most significant works of architecture in downtown
Baltimore.

It's  notable  for  its  arched  windows, carved  stonework  and thick,
fortress-like  walls  that  helped  it  survive  the  fire. In 1891, critic 
Montgomery  Schuyler  called  it  "the  most  admirable  of  the commercial
buildings in Baltimore," and said its effect is one of "classic purity."

The building had been vacant since Mercantile closed its branch there 
in 1993 and moved its mortgage department out the following year.

To  guide  the  design  work, Piscatelli  hired  KingDesign  and Kann &
Associates. Gary King of KingDesign was the lead project designer and chief
visionary  for  the  transformation. Kann & Associates was the architect of
record  and  the preservation  architect, with Donald Kann as principal in
charge;  Roger  Katzenberg  as  project  manager; Marie-Therese Giguere as
project  architect  and Denie Whiteley as interior designer. Together, they
changed the use of the building without losing its character as a bank.

In  many  ways,  the designers capitalized on the building's heritage by
reusing  bank  fixtures  such as safe deposit box lids (embedded in the bar 
surfaces),  bronze  mezzanine railings and lettering over an old vault door
that spells out the Latin phrase "Cavendo Tutus" - Safe by Being Cautious.

Trust's  logo,  a  lion's  head, was derived from two stone lion's heads
that  flank  the  Redwood  Street  entrance.  It's used everywhere from the
middle of the dance floor to labels on the bottled water and cigars at the
gift shop.

"It's  the  club of dreams," said King. "The intent always was to create
one  of  the most  beautiful  rooms  in  Baltimore,  which happens to be a
nightclub. It's a perfect use for the building. We've tried to bring it to
life in a way that it never was before."

The  upscale  tone of the restored building - with its fluted Corinthian
columns  and high, coffered ceiling - is intended to reflect the people who
go there. "This  is  an  expression of  themselves," King said. "It's meant to be
cozy,  romantic,  exuberant  - yet Baltimore. If we were in South Beach, we
would have done something else. But this is Baltimore." 

"The architecture says it all," agreed Whiteley. The  exterior  was  cleaned  and  
restored,  in accordance with historic preservation guidelines. Inside, the 
designers sought to make a distinction between  original  elements  that  were  
restored  and  elements  that were introduced.  Many  of the new elements have 
curves, such as the dance floor and  corners of the reconfigured mezzanine. 
They appear to "float" inside the original space, which is rectangular.

Gold  paint  and  high-intensity lighting accentuate column capitals and
other  ornamental  details  that were  part of the original structure. New
draperies and carpeting soften the interior, while the coffered ceiling has
been painted in shades of royal blue, green, purple and copper.

Much  of  the  ornamental  plasterwork  had  been  damaged in a previous
modernization  by the  bank, which installed a drop ceiling and mechanical
ductwork in the 1960s.

When  Piscatelli  and  his  crew  removed  the  suspended  ceiling, they
discovered holes  that  had  to  be repaired before they could do anything
else. A  plaster  restoration  crew  from  Hayles  &  Howe  spent  months
replicating medallions  and  other  ornamental features to bring the Beaux
Arts ceiling back to its original condition.

Air ducts were tucked behind banquettes, and sprinkler heads were hidden
inside   ceiling   rosettes. Ground-  and  mezzanine-level  restrooms  and
stairways  are  tucked inside corner structures that don't upstage the main
space.  New  drink rails on the mezzanine were designed to line up with the
historic mezzanine rails, so they wouldn't stand out. A second door was cut
into the main vault, at great expense.

Colors  are more vibrant than they were when the building was a bank - a
sign  of  the new use. But "the historic building is basically still here,"
King  said. "We've tried to keep the overall shape of the building, so when
you're in the middle you feel like you're in the old bank. Most people will
never pick  all  this up, but it's something we put a lot of thought into.
And everything we've done is reversible."

To  create  the new club, Piscatelli surveyed operations up and down the
East Coast. 

"We  took  the  best  of  every  space we saw and said, `This is what we
want,' "  he recalled. "The best sound system. The best lighting. The best
dance floor."

   
The entrance sequence calls for patrons to go in the Redwood Street side
and head downstairs, where they pay a cover charge and filter through rooms
on  that  level.  This  area is like a rathskeller, with a cigar lounge and
other  gathering  spaces. From there, patrons can move up to the main dance 
floor level or on to the mezzanine.

The 38-foot dance floor is built like one in a professional studio, with
a  four-layer  waffle  of wood and rubber to give the floor resiliency. The
mezzanine  overlooks  the dance floor and contains VIP seating next to the
DJ's booth.

With  a  dress  code  that requires "fashionable attire," Trust has been
drawing  a  well-dressed  crowd,  mostly  age 25-40. Some arrive in 
stretch limos  or use valet parking. For $500, Trust offers reserved seating for up
to 15 people and two bottles of Moet Chandon champagne or one bottle of Dom
Perignon. For $1,500, patrons can reserve the entire VIP lounge.

One  controversial  aspect of the renovation was creation of a secondary
entrance  on the  Calvert  Street side, complete with a ramp for people in
wheelchairs.

City  law  calls  for public  buildings  to have a second fire exit and
barrier-free   access  for  people  in  wheelchairs. The  owners  received
permission  from  Baltimore's  Commission  for Historical and Architectural
Preservation  to  enlarge two windows on the Calvert Street to serve as the
second  exit and barrier-free entrance. At one point, designers considered
making it the main entrance as well.

The  plan  drew  criticism  from  local preservationist James Dilts, who
argued  it  was  "major surgery" that represented a "serious imposition" on
the  building's architectural integrity. But the owners made the opening as
minimal  and  unobtrusive  as  possible, and preserved the masonry sections
that were removed so the alteration could be reversed if the nightclub ever
goes  out  of  business.  The  operators  also decided to use the original
Redwood  Street  entrance  as  the  club's main entrance, drawing even less
attention  to  the  changes  on  Calvert  Street. On a recent Saturday, the
Calvert  Street  side  saw  little use except when bouncers ejected unruly
patrons.

Another  source  of  controversy  has  been the closing time. Piscatelli
sought   permission  to  stay  open  until  4  a.m.,  agreeing  to  operate
alcohol-free  between  2  a.m.  and 4 a.m. The city's zoning board approved
that request in October, but the liquor board subsequently ruled that Trust
must close at 2 a.m. Piscatelli said he intends to challenge that ruling in
court.

"If  you  want  Baltimore  to  be a considered a top-tier city" and land
events such as the Olympics, he says, "you have to extend the hours" past 2
a.m. In  the  meantime,  he has plans to increase business in other ways. The
sushi bar, Sans Sushi, is open for lunch and dinner. A coffee bar will open
soon, with outdoor seating in good weather.

Along  with  Latin dancing on Wednesdays and ladies nights on Thursdays.
Trust  plans  to  add  more theme nights early next year, including a swing
dancing  night  on  Tuesdays  and a tea dance on Sundays. Part of the lower
level  may  be set aside for weeknight jazz as well. The entire building is
available for Oscar night parties, fund-raisers and other events, such as a
New Year's Eve party. 
   
Just  inside  the  entrance,  where  everyone  passes by, is a series of
sepia-toned  photos  of the  original  structure,  standing alone amid the
rubble  from  the  1904  fire. It's a reminder that one of Baltimore's most
distinctive landmarks got a second chance then - and is getting another one now.

Piscatelli is gratified by the response so far. "We  knew  there  was a market, 
but we didn't know how deep it was," he said. "It goes a lot deeper than we 
originally thought."