After months of meetings and hearings, the Malvern Borough Council has recently approved Duffryn Mawr. The project is located in the heart of the Borough on East King Street at the intersection of Bridge Street.

This long-vacant lot will finally come back to life. The beautifully designed, three-story building will include 19 one-bedroom apartments above first-floor retail space facing East King Street.

The architect and developer, Jim Carr and Owen Carr, designed a building that incorporates architectural features from across the Borough, including elements of the Hires Condensed Milk Factory, to create a structure that will stand out for years to come.

The Howell team assisted in obtaining the necessary zoning relief and Land Development approvals. The site’s small area presented some challenges, but in the end, we were able to bring it all together.

Improvements include access to Woodland Avenue from the proposed parking in the rear of the building. Stormwater management is provided in a subsurface stormwater infiltration bed to handle the net change in stormwater runoff from the proposed parking lot and building. Additionally, part of the project will include streetscape improvements along East King Street, including benches and planters.

This project was a bit of a history lesson for me, as a non-native Chester Countian or Pennsylvanian, learning about Charles Hires and his condensed milk factory in Malvern. Once I realized that Charles Hires was the ‘Hires’ of Hires Root Beer, it brought back nostalgic memories—a trip down memory lane, drinking root beer as a young boy growing up in Virginia.

Howell Engineering enjoyed being part of this project with Carr Architecture. We look forward to seeing this corner of the Borough thriving again.