Applegate Apartments
Bennington, VT

In 1996, Housing Vermont and the Applegate Housing Limited Partnership
asked Northern Architects to plan and design the renovation of the existing Applegate Apartments in Bennington, Vermont. Originally constructed by a private developer as a subsidized housing project in the 1970's, the 120 apartments of Applegate had been allowed to fall into a state of serious disrepair. By 1996 many of the apartments were vacant and uninhabitable with significant water damage and vandalism.

Northern Architects’ work included the design of building upgrades to bring the buildings into conformance with current Codes, make them more energy efficient, upgrade the electrical systems, replace the heating systems, install new kitchens and appliances, and a host of other health and safety improvements. In addition, three buildings were demolished to allow correction of serious site drainage problems, new sidewalks and roads were installed and a new playground and community building were created.

Planning challenges included developing a plan to relocate the existing residents as the work progressed to provide the existing residents with upgraded apartments as soon as possible without needing to relocate them from the site. The work was completed on time and within budget during 1998.