The building’s late 19th-century brick storefront, which had a certain charm even if its window openings revealed a tree growing up in the middle of the lot, was in pretty bad shape.

Architect Whitney Powers of Studio A says the original idea was to preserve that facade and build something contemporary just behind it.

“There was a lot of interest in seeing that happen,” she says, but it didn’t. “We were going to use that facade, but it was so structurally unsound it became a hazard. We thought it was going to fall into the street.”

Instead, Powers ended up designing one of the most novel buildings on Upper King — one bound to trigger arguments about whether it fits into the city.