401 FOSTER STREET

Echoing our commitment to Durham and interest in unearthing, celebrating, and reframing our city’s history and fabric, we are located in an old industrial building in Durham’s Central Park neighborhood.

The building was originally constructed in the 1930s as a post-and-beam warehouse. In the early 1940s the warehouse was converted into an auto service building for the Williams-Nash Motor Company by removing the interior posts and inserting steel trusses to support the roof. After the car dealership closed in the 1970s, the Southeastern Radio Supply company took ownership of the property until the building was redeveloped in the mid-2000s.

The studio’s creative history traces back to that redevelopment, as previous occupants included the Bull City Arts Collaborative, Horse and Buggy Press, and The Groove Productions. Signs of the building’s history are apparent and celebrated. The glass entry marks the original garage door opening, and the concrete floor—by way of infill concrete slab pours and paint stains—reveals the previous inhabitant’s diverse activities.

The interior sports a bowstring truss, wood ceiling, and concrete floors. To complement, rather than compete with, the beautiful rawness of these elements, interior interventions are kept to a minimum. White pin-up walls wrap the perimeter, while a ribbon of color extends from interior to exterior to create EVOKE’s street presence.

For more history, visit Open Durham’s richly detailed website.