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From icon to breadbasket: Gehry building to be turned into Whole Foods

From icon to breadbasket: Gehry building to be turned into Whole Foods

Part of the upper level will be removed to create double-height space for the grocery store.


By BD+C Staff  | August 18, 2014

In Columbia, Md., stands the former corporate headquarters of Rouse Company, which founded Columbia in the 1960s as a corporate town. The steel-frame, 150,000-sf, Frank Gehry-designed HQ is about to be completely transformed, according to Architizer.

The Howard Hughes Corporation, in association with architecture firm Cho Benn Holback + Associates, plans to turn the building—at least the majority of it—into a Whole Foods. Hughes Corp. offices will be housed in the building's top level, with the Whole Foods Market taking up the entire 50,000-sf second level. 

Cho Benn Holback plans to remove part of the upper level to create double-height space for the grocery store, and will add the well-known Whole Foods sign to the building's facade. 

A wellness center will be located on the building's lower level. 

 
 
The original Rouse Company HQ building. Photo credit: Rayman, Wayfinders.

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