Trivers recently earned a Design Excellence Citation in the Historic Preservation, Restoration & Renovation Category—a Phil Freelon Professional Design Award from the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)—for its transformation of the Butler Brothers Building into The Victor.
NOMA’s mission is to empower its local chapters and membership to foster justice and equity in communities of color through outreach, community advocacy, professional development and design excellence. Its annual Phil Freelon Professional Design Awards recognize outstanding architectural design work by NOMA members. Nakesha Newsome, Trivers architectural designer and board member of the St. Louis chapter of NOMA, accepted the award at the 2025 NOMA Annual Conference in Kansas City in October.
“Receiving the Phil Freelon Professional Design Award is meaningful to the type of firm Trivers strives to be,” said Trivers Associate Principal Martin Padilla, AIA, member of NOMA’s St. Louis chapter and project architect for The Victor. “Phil’s legacy inspires us to design with purpose, shaping environments that reflect the richness of communities and advance equity through design.”
Located in St. Louis’ Downtown West neighborhood, the Butler Brothers Building’s massive size, long dormancy and potential to catalyze additional development made it an ideal candidate for renovation. In 2020, Development Services Group (DSG) selected Trivers as lead architect, historic architect and interior designer for a project that would turn the historic 735,000-square-foot warehouse into a multifamily community.
Since opening in 2023, The Victor has attracted a diverse mix of residents to the Downtown West neighborhood. Through an agreement with the City of St. Louis, DSG received a property tax abatement and, in return, designated nearly a quarter of The Victor’s 384 units for residents earning up to 80 percent of the area’s median income. A range of unit types also helps keep rental rates attainable. With an average apartment size of 943 square feet—larger than the national average—The Victor offers residents a higher standard of living.
“The Victor represents our belief that great design should serve everyone,” Padilla said. “By integrating accessible housing within a thoughtfully designed, high-quality environment, we’ve helped make urban living in Downtown West both attainable and inspiring.”
Additional national recognition for The Victor includes a 2025 Housing Award from the American Institute of Architects and a 2025 Metamorphosis Award from Retrofit Magazine. The Victor was also featured in Architectural Record as a “triumph of adaptive reuse.”
