Saved!

When the design firm Arketype considered a former Presbyterian church as a possible venue for its new offices, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, you might say it saw the light—literally. The warm indirect sunlight that filters through the building’s stained-glass windows seemed perfect for workers who spend much of their time staring at computer monitors. The five-month renovation, completed last February, thus focused on opening up the interior. “We just bas­ically took it down to its bones and brought it back so it could breathe,” says Jim Rivett, Ark­etype’s president and creative director. Along the way they salvaged as much of the original materials as possible. Maple pews were disassembled and converted into bookshelves and coat­racks. All of the hardwood floors were re-sanded and kept intact. The organ pipes were earmarked for a lobby sculpture. Even the collection plates were saved. Indeed, one wonders: Was there anything they couldn’t salvage? “Yeah, one of the urinals,” Rivett says, with real regret in his voice. “They threw it away before I got there.”