Optimist Hall is a 60,000 SF food hall and retail tenant destination in Charlotte, NC. Originally built as a textile mill in 1892, the building boasts tall ceilings, large factory windows, and a smokestack that were all restored to create a daylight-filled gathering space for shopping and dining guests. The base building design was executed by Perkins + Will, and Holden led the Square Feet Studio team that brought life to the public domain of this space while acting as a general design consultant on the overall vision of the project. The custom furniture of the space was inspired by the spinning and weaving processes of the original factory while using materials harkening to that era: heart pine and raw steel. Emily collaborated with Holden in 2021 to revisit of the project to help expand the exterior seating and gathering spaces to bring more indoor-outdoor connection to the building. The exterior work centered around an elevated national park aesthetic play with colors and energetic spaces.