The town’s context exists primarily above pedestrians’ line of sight. The majority of the buildings in Roanoke’s city center have stood for a century; however, the bottom stories of these buildings have changed throughout time in order to cater to consumer needs. Preoccupation with consumer demands has limited focus to the bottom story, blocking the remaining architecture. Architecturally, corporate identity has taken precedent over a cohesive reading of the facade, resulting in a disconnect between the bottom story and the top stories. 

The intervention reinterprets this disconnection by making the polarizing line between the bottom story and the top stories less distinguishable. Public and private weave around one another, each leaving pockets for the other to fill. This simultaneous existence results in a blurry mixture of the two worlds. Through the merging of public and private space, emphasis on the joint has shifted from an external distinction to an internal question of habitation.