Architect Thomas Bergmann, managing principal of the Cannon Design St. Louis office, had walked past the Power House many times. The 1928 Revival-style building was a derelict landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, just off the interstate — a sign of different and more prosperous times. The building began its life as a courthouse. Then the city turned it into a coal-fired power plant to heat about a dozen local buildings. In 1980 it was decommissioned.

It wasn’t until Bergmann’s firm was in the market for a new office that he saw the potential of the Power House. Even though it had been vacant for 30 years, “the light and the character and the feel of the space were very powerful to me,” says Bergmann. “It was a postindustrial cathedral.” And since Cannon Design’s lease was up on its office, it was the right time to leap. The firm analyzed the market and determined that if it utilized state, national, and Brownfield tax credits, purchasing the Power House from the developer/owner would make financial sense. So they bought it in 2007.