Downtown – Baltimore, Maryland (2018)
The China Room is located in the historic Farmers and Merchants National Bank building at 44 South Street (at the corner of East Lombard Street) in downtown Baltimore. After its run as a financial institution, the building famously housed Uncle Lee’s Harbor Restaurant for several decades, establishing itself as a well-known culinary fixture in the Inner Harbor area. Built in 1905, it was erected immediately following the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, which had destroyed much of the city’s downtown business district. It features a striking Beaux-Arts and Classical Revival style, built with a textured red brick facade, monumental arched windows, and decorative stone ornamentation along its roofline cornice.
These rowhouses each have a distinctive color applied to each one, despite the fact that they are subdivisions of larger buildings. The effect this has is to make one residence distinct from the others.
This corner bar has a canted entrance. The sidewalk outside of the storefront is activated with benches, plantings, and A-frame signs.
These characteristic Baltimore blocks have varied buildings between one and four stories. The streets are narrow leaving relatively little space for pedestrians and street parking.
Elements of a classic German biergarten or beer garden are on display here. A slight adaption for the Baltimore climate is a large skylight spanning and protecting the open space below. Characteristic benches and tables are laid out. The use of painting for both the exterior sign and for details inside give a human touch that cannot be reproduced with printed or mechanically made signs.
Afters is a store providing coffee, pastry, and frozen yogurt. It is a nice complement to the restaurants and bars in the neighborhood.
Scrap is a unique business that focuses on using reclaimed or repurposed materials. A Kids Area helps to ensure that people of all ages are welcome. Sewing, jewelry, a bucket wall of parts, and craft supplies are just a few of the materials and supplies available.
The Baltimore City Fire Department Engine House #2 is located at 800 Light Street in the historic Federal Hill neighborhood. The station was built in 1920, as prominently carved into the stone tablet at the peak of the roofline cornice. It features a handsome Pre-War brick industrial design with a monumental stone-arched apparatus bay door to accommodate large fire engines. The distinctive green and gold header sign reads “BALTO. FIRE DEPT.” with a large brass numeral “2” mounted just below it. It remains an operational, active station house serving the Baltimore City Fire Department’s Engine Company 2.