Connecting Raleigh’s history to its future

Raleigh Iron Works, located near downtown Raleigh, NC, utilizes 2 buildings that were originally part of Peden Steel. In the 1800s, the Bow Truss Building was located in downtown Raleigh and was moved to its current location in the 1950s. Peden Steel built the Double Gable building beside it shortly after that move. This sits on a 19-acre campus that will include new buildings that will house 219 apartments while the existing Bow Truss and Double Gables buildings are used for offices, events, fine dining, a brewery, and shopping.

What makes Raleigh Iron Works so unique is the use of repurposed industrial materials for art, trellises, monuments, and planters in the landscape as well as native and drought-tolerant plantings of perennials, trees, shrubs, grasses, and vines throughout the property.  The inside courtyard of the Bow Truss building is a beautiful space that highlights the exposed original steel structure as well as outdoor seating and a gas fireplace. A slide at the rear of the Double Gables building gives tenants and guests a fun way to exit the second story. 

Our team provided the landscape installation and continues to maintain the site as construction continues for the on-site housing located around the property. We provide a full-time horticulturist on staff who thoughtfully cares for the native plantings and ensures that the landscape stays well cared for. The expertise needed to maintain a site with these plant varieties requires the expertise of someone very familiar with plant material not normally found in commercial plantings in our area. Many shrubs and perennials onsite flower and provide food for our pollinators which serves as a refuge for native bees in an otherwise urban environment. 

Raleigh Iron Works is a testament to what can be done with historic buildings to bring them into the future as well as how landscape design can be used in innovative and sustainable ways.