The design team started by taking stock of what was left of the original building. While the roof, second and third floors had collapsed, the masonry shell was left structurally intact and was in good shape. The design team laid out a floor plan similar to the original, with a large open space at the front for events including dining, dancing, and art exhibitions where the main floor of the general store used to be and a catering kitchen and restrooms at the back on the first floor and a second-story single studio apartment where storage used to be. The majority of the second story was not rebuilt, leaving the gallery with an open, flexible and filled with light, revealing two stories of windows and showing off the full height of the original structure. To realize the project, our in-house steel shop designed and fabricated a structural steel brace with custom components to prevent deflection and support the exterior walls. Because the brace is a focal point within the space, the architect took great care in its appearance, the cornerstone of which is a highly precise, extremely minimal metal sleeve for the bracing cables. The sleeve hovers over the center of the main gathering space keeping the cables precisely separated at exactly the right height. This piece was designed, tested, and ultimately fabricated in our in-house steel shop in order to control the outcome with impeccably clean details.