Armature Works - An Up and Coming Eco-Friendly Establishment

Written by Reese Williams & Caitlin Ziegler

Photography, videography and video editing by Maddi Dolan

As people are becoming more aware of the pressing issues of sustainability in today’s society, efforts are being made to incorporate eco-friendly aspects into their everyday lives. One business doing just that is Armature Works.

Armature Works is a brand new hub in downtown Tampa that has been open for a little over a year. Over that year they have implemented multiple eco-friendly features into their establishment. This includes paper straws, biodegradable napkins and plates, and recycling bins all around the building.

“This whole building is pretty much a sustainability project. It was sitting here vacant for 100 years and the fact that we’ve been able to repurpose the building itself and modernize it into a hub and place that people can enjoy really speaks to the sustainability project in general,” said Lauren Mooser, Marketing Director for Armature Works.

Dating back to 1910, Armature Works was previously used as a maintenance and storage facility for Tampa Electric (TECO) streetcars. After a few decades, it ended up vacant and then in 2004, Tampa recognized the warehouse as a historical landmark. Now it serves as a multipurpose venue consisting of restaurants, a marketplace, and conference rooms.

“I’m here for a business lunch and then I’m also looking to maybe rent some space up in Bay 3. Just the location of it is centralized, it’s close to where I do business and also there’s a lot of commerce in the area so a lot of other businesses that I do business with are close to here. It’s like a one-stop shop for me, I can still do business here, I can have lunch here, I can meet here and it’s also pretty if I want to go outside and relax and hang out by the river,” said Eric Lawrence.

Aside from the buildings variety of dining options, it also serves as a meeting location for people to network. Bay 3 acts as a co-working space for professionals to work collaboratively and have open discussions. It is equipped with private offices, print stations, and a lounge area.

For the most part, every place within Armature Works has included facets from the original warehouse. For example, the textured brick walls and the scaffolding hanging from the roof.

“Most of the brick walls you see are original and the fireplaces outside are all original. There is also a 100 year old safe in Steelbach which has been repurposed as a wine cellar that can fit up to 1000 bottles of wine,” said Mooser.

A newer feature in Armature Works’ design is the inclusion of skylights above the space. This adds additional natural lighting and helps to reduce the amount of electricity used by the facility.

A lot of the vendors are even gearing towards the sustainability plan by making their products eco-friendly.

“There is definitely a mindset of being geared towards sustainability. That reflects in the products that we sell here, it reflects in the products that I know a lot of the vendors in here use. I think that there’s a push towards that,” said Mary Demarest, an employee of A.W. Mercantile.

Elizabeth Killmer, an AVA employee said, “Everything that we have here is also sustainable like our napkins and plates and everything so it is a really good trend going around, whenever anybody else does something it obviously is easy to follow and it’s for a good cause so we’re definitely down for it.”

Aside from Armature Works’ ecologically friendly nature, the employees have gotten to see how the establishment has grown in its entirety.

“I would say it has developed, in my opinion, more than it has grown. I think the fact that it’s managed to stay as consistently busy as it has is kinda impressive. They’ve added a lot of new spaces. So we just put in a rooftop bar, the event spaces are new, we got the new restaurant Oak and Ola, there’s always something going on and I guess there’s more events here now, too. It’s a phenomenal place to work because there are always tons of fun people coming through here, it’s a hot spot of Tampa and Tampa is becoming a bigger and more culturally diverse city so it’s fun to see the progress of that and to be a part of it,” said Demarest.

The development of Armature Works has also created job opportunities in the surrounding area.

“It’s really helping with the area, it brings jobs to the area, it brings visitors, a lot of people are interested in coming to check it out. It makes the neighborhood, it’s pretty much gentrifying the neighborhood around here and making it a nicer place for everyone to be,” said Killmer, “I was asked to help promote business here and I’m happy doing so. I love the vibe, I think it’s great for promoting both businesses and it’s really great for the Tampa area so that’s why we love being here.”

For the future, Armature works plans on extending its outreach by adding more to the Tampa Riverwalk and its own area.

“For future plans we have Stones Throw, which is an oyster bar sitting on the edge of the water and the Riverwalk. You will be able to access this restaurant by either boat, bike, or by walking. There is also the extension of the Riverwalk, which will be not too far after the opening of Stones Throw. We are extending it all the way to Boulevard Bridge which is another 0.3 miles away. There will also be a 90-foot pier as part of the extension,” said Mooser.

Armature Works is just one part of the overall project. A redevelopment project coined The Heights consisting of 43 acres worth of retail, hotel, condos, and office space. These additions will give more diversity to the area and help to continue the plan of revitalizingthe lower income areas of downtown Tampa for the future.

“One thing I don’t like is that there’s not more places like it, that’s about it," said Eric Lawrence.