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Designing a restoration for a building older than a century is never a totally predictable job. Brian Emerick of Emerick Architects learned that when he scoped out an 1890s-era warehouse at 205 N.W. Fourth Ave. in Old Town Chinatown.

The three-story building, built by the Overland Warehouse Company, had sat empty for decades except when a couple of strip clubs had occupied ground-floor space, Emerick said. But he and Joren Bass, development manager at Urban Development + Partners, made plans to restore the building and convert the top two floors into open office space and the ground floor into restaurant and retail space.

The team looked to add an elevator, perform total seismic upgrades and restore elements as close to the original design as possible. But after checking out the attic, Emerick said, the design changed. That was because massive wooden beams and trusses were overhead.

鈥淚t was all enclosed 鈥� (we) couldn’t see any of it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e crawled around in the attic and said, 鈥榃ow. This is really neat up here.’ And it was all hidden.鈥�

The old beams and trusses will be sandblasted to bring back the original color, Emerick said. Also, a large skylight will be constructed above an opening around a staircase to the floor below.

鈥淎dding a big skylight and cutting floor out in a section between levels two and three 鈥� will give real connectivity,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it has heavy timber, old wood floors.鈥�

Another surprise for the project team came from a 1912 renovation to turn the warehouse into a tenement house, Emerick said. As walls were added on the upper floors, many of the dozens of floor-to-ceiling beams that dot the structure 鈥� each almost two feet wide and at least 12 feet tall 鈥� were moved to make way for tiny rooms. Some of the beams, many of them load-bearing, were missing, so the project team had exact replicas made. Replacing and moving the beams was no small feat: Heavy equipment couldn’t be used because of tight space requirements, Emerick said.

鈥淎 lot of it is old wood and has been put back where it’s supposed to be, and that took a lot of 鈥楨gyptians,’ 鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can’t drop a crane through the roof, so it’s muscle and primitive techniques.鈥�

Joe Sheets, project manager for contractor Todd Hess Building Co., clarified the effort.

鈥淚t was a lot of young, strong carpenters,鈥� he said.

Emerick, Sheets and Bass earlier this week sat around a makeshift table on the first floor as they planned their next steps. Emerick said the major work should be done by June and then interior finishes will require a couple of months.

Planning for the unexpected is part of any job involving an aged building, Sheets said.

鈥淵ou always uncover things you don’t know and it’s always a bit of a mystery,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o you have to come up with a good plan.鈥�

A restoration will transform the Overland Warehouse into creative office space above retail and restaurant space on the ground floor. Work is scheduled to finish this summer.

Without elaborating, Bass said there were some 鈥渦nforeseen 鈥� existing footing conditions.鈥�

鈥淭he (missing) column scenario affected the levels of the floors over time, so we’re moving those back in place and kind of leveling the building again,鈥� Sheets said. 鈥淎 lot of work was putting the structure back the way it was built and then putting in the seismic upgrades. It was a big effort just returning the structure to the way it was intended to be.鈥�

The building will retain many of its unique features, including the outlines of where the tenement room walls once stood on the old wooden floors upstairs, Emerick said. While walking on the second floor, he pointed to discolorations marking former tenement rooms, some as narrow as four feet. The rooms were too small to be useful so walls were removed, he said, but the outlines provide more of a sense of history.

Restoration also required a 鈥渟pecial energy path鈥� because the building had been empty for so many years, Emerick said.

鈥淚t had to be full energy code to install heating and we had to add a whole bunch of insulation in the roof and a whole lot of higher-quality mechanical systems,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t made it a lot more complicated to be able to have it look simple.鈥�

In trying to restore the building to its original look, Emerick said he had only a few photographs of part of the building’s exterior for reference. And although the windows could not be saved, replicas will be installed.

As Emerick climbed down into the basement, he pointed out the foundation’s rock walls.

鈥淚t was before concrete was really used here, so they have a heavy stone foundation with gigantic brick piers with actual stone caps and the columns on top,鈥� he said.

The low-ceiling basement will primarily be used for storage, Emerick said, but also for bike parking and showers.

Emerick added that many brick walls will be exposed.

鈥淲e did a special kind of engineering path for the energy code so we were able to keep all the brick walls,鈥� he said.

Overland Warehouse restoration

Location: 205 N.W. Fourth Ave.

Anticipated construction completion date: summer 2016

Owner/developer: Urban Development + Partners

Architect: Emerick Architects

Structural engineer: Grummel Engineering

Civil engineer: Humber Design Group

Energy code analyst: Glumac

General contractor: Todd Hess Building Co.