The ClayGround is the adaptive reuse of a quirky historical building in Ellicott City, MD to a modern maker space. Originally used as a showroom for the Oldsmobile with an upstairs apartment, the 3,190sf re-imagined space now houses studios for pottery and glass work, a retail shop, gallery and support spaces. It was designed to celebrate the work of the makers at every turn while also controlling the messier aspects of their work. Through innovative design that favors flexibility, ClayGround is able to now host 3x as many classes within the same volume and has quickly become an anchor for its creative community, reinforcing their credo that “anyone can be an artist.”

After statewide executive orders forced the temporary closure of many small business in 2020 during the pandemic, the Owners of ClayGround took advantage of that time to re-imagine their space and undergo this substantial renovation.

Their existing space was cramped and had a poorly functioning HVAC system, which would greatly reduce the number of artist who could safely utilize studios at any given time. While working inside of their existing footprint they wanted to create more flexible studio space, open up work rooms to allow students to spread out and correct poor ventilation throughout. Utilization of natural light was also important to the overall design.

Prior to renovating, the space was segregated into two completely separate zones by floor with no clear connection between the two. The upstairs apartment was a maze of small cellular rooms each having to serve multiple functions. The downstairs, a former coffee shop, housed a glass studio tucked in the back of the building as well as an interior kiln room which also caused overheating of the entire space during firings. The layout was not only inefficient, but it precluded social distancing and was not conducive to teaching or collaboration.

The existing structure, which was constructed organically over many years also experienced frequent flooding. The building is situated into the valley wall, so a portion of the ground floor acts as a retaining wall. During construction it was discovered that the wall was in ill repair allowing water to enter during every rain shower. A new foundation was poured and the wall was repaired, allowing the space to be water tight.

The primary goal of the renovation was to unite the two levels of the building while opening up the spaces on each floor. The renovations created 3 large flexible studio spaces with support spaces adjacent enabling ClayGround to host triple the classes. The ground floor contains the glass studio and a flexible teaching space, while the upper level houses two dedicated ceramic studios. The larger space can accommodate wheel-work and hand-building and the small space is being used for glazing, finishing and hand-building. There is now space for artists to work alongside students while still allowing for social distancing when needed.

Natural light now floods the space through newly added skylights and windows.