The video showcases the Duke Energy Innovation Center at Optimist Hall, celebrating its selection as Coronet Carolina’s 2019 Project of the Year. Set inside the restored 1892 mill that once produced the nation’s largest volume of gingham, the tour highlights the building’s historic preservation—hand‑repaired windows, 256 heart‑of‑pine columns, and the decision to retain the structure within Charlotte’s urban fabric. The design emphasizes a creative, collaborative workplace organized into “neighborhoods” and “power bars,” with over 100 whiteboards, sit‑stand desks, quiet loft spaces, and a game room. Employee amenities extend to diverse coffee options and an adjacent food hall. The location benefits from light‑rail connectivity, placing the center within a ten‑minute commute to Uptown Charlotte, and the overall environment is described as energizing and supportive of agile, multidisciplinary teams.
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Coronet Carolina's 2019 Project of the Year, over 50,000 square feet. Congratulations, Duke Energy Innovation Center at Optimist Hall.
This is the Innovation Center at Optimist Hall. This is Such a departure from any Duke Energy space that you will see anywhere else. It is truly a creative environment. The factory space that we're standing in right now is the original building, so it was built in 1892. That's really the main focus for production work on a day-to-day basis.
It was the largest gingham producer in the country. So if you look here, you have little nods to the history of this historic mill. There are over 250 windows around the perimeter that were all blocked in that had to be removed by hand and then rebuilt in the same history.
There's 256 columns that we had to work around. They're 500-year-old heart of pine, so there's a lot of character with this building. It could have been bulldozed and more multifamily housing put over it, but to save this and be part of the urban fabric was truly amazing.
We strategically planned the space to support multidisciplinary groups coming together to work in what we call neighborhoods. That's where all of our teammates sit. The space is broken up by what we call power bars. Those are clusters of collaboration space that support those different neighborhoods.
It was efficiently done, but also this space was created for agile groups, people that work. You see over 100 whiteboards here. They have stand-up huddles. They move quickly. You can either be here at your sit-stand desk with your headphones on that are sound isolating, or you can go upstairs in the loft and be in a very quiet place.
You have a game room. You've got your different types of coffees. You've got a food hall directly adjacent that people can go and sit in and work. It's got a connection back to our history at Duke Energy. Through Ready Kilowatt. Ready Kilowatt was actually a government marketing material that all power companies had the opportunity to use.
We looked at various places. Obviously, the history of here was one of the key things, but then the rail itself, the light rail accessibility to Uptown Charlotte. Within 10 minutes you can be back and forth. What I get out of this place is the level of energy. It's awesome. And, you know, it's the kind of place that I want to be working in because at the end of the day you go actually home energized versus tired.
Congratulations, Duke Energy Innovation Center at Optimist Hall, the Cordette Carolina's 2019 Project of the Year.
