Allan Shulman is an architect who has specialized in delicate restoration work on Miami Beach, including the Historic Bath Club and Brown’s Hotel, the first hotel built on Miami Beach. He goes into detail about the Brown’s Hotel project, which was especially challenging because the restoration had to be done with wood, very rare on Miami Beach, since no other wooden structures survived. He talks about the legend that Brown’s was built atop a shipwreck. Since extensive foundation work had to be done, he lays to rest that myth. Shulman has a deep appreciation for the Art Deco and Miami Modern architectural styles and talks about the challenges of doing a major restoration project in a small space, having to adhere to historic preservation and contemporary zoning requirements. The interview gives real insight into the work of being a preservation architect, the research and the ingenuity in restoring an old building and bringing it up to current building standards and code enforcement without compromising the historic integrity of the structure.
