Gilden Integrated Advertising

Commercial, Historic, Award Winning, Historic

Nearly destroyed by a fire, the historic Grace-Hampden Methodist Episcopal Church has been resurrected into the new headquarters for the Baltimore advertising agency Gilden Integrated. The 100-year-old church was built in a Romanesque Revival style and eventually divided into a sanctuary and Sunday school. 

Ziger|Snead meticulously restored the granite exterior back to its original appearance and then reunited the interior into a suite of offices and meeting areas. Marking the center of the former sanctuary is a frosted glass-paneled conference room with a lounge space on top. A sculptural staircase, carved into the floor of the former Sunday school, leads down to offices in the basement. 

These contemporary elements happily coexist with historic fragments that survived the fire. Stenciled plaster, roof trusses, stained glass, and other original details were preserved as reminders of the church’s history. Fire-damaged wood was recycled into benches and stair treads. “The historic features were retained while the new construction is of consistently high quality,” points out Ray Goodrow of the Maryland Historical Trust. “The contrast of the old and new is utilized to maximum advantage.”