Once a two-lane bowling alley, a lawyer’s office, and a meeting post for fly-by-night secret societies, this sliver of historical brick on Lawrenceville’s downtown square is the new home of Local Republic. With tradition and superstition written on its walls, the building stands as a metaphor for “being in the know,” the driving force of the concept. In fact, being a local is best described as “being in the know,” and although this may be the most straightforward way to define it, rather than just providing a place for locals, Ben Bailey and Chris Collin, the owning duo of Local Republic, charged ai3 with the task of designing a place to create locals.