Todd Pownell
TAP by Todd Pownell, Cleveland
When the topics of recycling and environmental responsibility come up, it’s likely that the kinds of initiatives discussed above are the first that come to mind. We think in terms of recycling our waste and re-thinking our materials. But what about re-using buildings? In downtown Cleveland, Todd Pownell, owner of TAP by Todd Pownell, works and lives among a collection of artists in a reclaimed and repurposed building.
“We live in midtown,” he says. “It’s an area with a lot of old industrial buildings. There were a lot of artists living there—painters, glassblowers, ceramicists, but not a lot of metalsmiths. As jewelers, my wife and I liked the idea of living and work in the same space.” While reducing their carbon footprint by combining their spaces was a big consideration in the decision, it also reduces their overall costs by not having to support a separate storefront—and their commute is the time it takes to climb or descend their spiral staircase. Although many artists were living in the former light factory (built in 1908 as the Broc Electric Factory) when Pownell first learned of it, doing so wasn’t exactly in line with local zoning laws.
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“In 2001, working with a group called City Artists At Work, a councilman got a law passed called the Live-Work Ordinance,” he explains. “This allowed the building to be developed so it was coded for living, but they were only coded that way as live-work for craftspeople. We jumped on that. Our building was one of the first ones developed under the law in 2003. There has been a steady increase of creative people moving to the neighborhood to take advantage of the benefits of live/work living since then.”
Living where he worked, Pownell immediately recognized one green perk: no more commute and, therefore, less car usage. “We walk up our spiral staircase to get to our workspace. We’re a one-car family now, and we live a very urban lifestyle.” The change has put him so far removed from driving everywhere that he actually finds it a little jarring now to be in traffic. “I forgot how crazy it is,” he says.
Repurposing the building was just the framework for Pownell’s overall earth-friendly initiatives. In his shop, he says with plenty of local pride, they use benches that once belonged to renowned Cleveland metalsmith John Paul Miller. Pownell received them after Miller passed away in 2013. “It’s nice because they have really good karma and a lot of history,” he says. “It’s cool to continue that studio jewelry history by reusing those same benches.”
Some other benches in the shop came from a defunct welding shop nearby. That took a bit more effort. “They were running a flea market every week,” he says. “We were friends with the couple who ran it. They had all these old anvils and benches. We acquired some of those. They weren’t exactly perfect for jewelry benches but we sawed them in half or bolted them together and now we use them in our shop. We’re using a lot of old stuff in our studio.”
Getting greener is an ongoing process at Pownell’s shop. Because he owns his units and happens to have the top two floors, the roof is also his—so he’s looking into solar panels. “I went ahead and gave us access to a roof deck. It’s one of the best investments I made,” he says. “It has become like our backyard. We have a great view of Cleveland. There’s a lot of extra space around our deck, and there are a lot of businesses in our area that use solar power, so I have the idea to implement solar panels on the roof that will help power our business.”
All things considered, it wouldn’t be surprising if he managed to find solar panels in need of repurposing.
Read about more green initiatives in the jewelry industry: