BSA Historic Resources Committee Meeting Notes for December 2006
Present: Mark Almeda, Fred Atherton, Matthew Bronski, Chelsea Dekis, Marilyn Fenollosa, Jack Glassman, Scott Harrington, David Hart, John Hecker, Susan Hollister, Lisa Howe, Wendell Kalsow, David Kelman, David King, Doug Manley, Henry Moss, Bill Remsen, Drew Saundels, Susan Schur, Malcolm Smiley, Jonathan Smith, Jay Stanbury, Jill Verhosek, Eric Ward, Sara Wermiel, Gary Wolfe, Sally Zimmerman
1. BSA Preservation Award: The committee discussed efforts towards preserving Boston's Historic Burial Grounds and DCR's outstanding publication on preservation of historic burial grounds as worthy of our consideration for the BSA Preservation Award.
2. Sever Hall Exterior Restoration, Harvard University: Lisa Howe, Director of Preservation at Goody-Clancy Associates and Project Manager for the work, presented the project. Henry Moss introduced Lisa by reminding us that, like Andrea Palladio, Lisa came to architecture straight from the masonry trades. Many of us first came to know Lisa when she was a student at Roger Williams College working on a thesis on Roxbury Puddingstone. Elizabeth Randall told us that when both she and Lisa worked for Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Lisa would frequently mention her great admiration for Sever Hall and her desire that Harvard properly restore the building. Years later, when the project was first being conceived within Harvard facilities, Elizabeth persuasively opined that, wherever Lisa Howe worked, she is the ideal person to lead this project.
H.H. Richardson's Sever Hall was built in 1879-80 by Norcross Brothers at the same time that they were building the Trinity Church Rectory. Lisa passionately described Richardson's exterior composition as all about subtlety. The subtle play of texture, depth, and tone-on-tone coloration in the composition of the façade is the sure-handed and extremely refined work of a master. Its taut volumes, tight hipped roof line, and gently swollen front bay almost make the volume appear inflated, a characteristic shared by the Shingle Style, which Richardson invented just a few blocks away at Stoughton House. Sever Hall's exterior walls are red brick and red cut brick, with red East Longmeadow sandstone trim. Fenestration consists of the original wood windows, with applied exterior storms. The roofing, restored in the 1980's, consists of red Ludowici flat, interlocking clay tile, with spot replacements of hip and ridge tile cast from red-tinted concrete, cast in shapes to match the originals, but over time drained of its pigmentation.
Sever Hall facade before (left) and after (right) exterior restoration.
Roofing work was limited to spot replacement of the concrete replacement tiles. Lisa noted that the concrete shapes were perfect matches to the originals, but the red color had faded and the concrete tiles were now pinkish. The original clay hip and ridge tile are a uniform deep red, while the flat interlocking field tile are a blend of red to brown tones. Boston Valley Terra Cotta in upstate New York made custom replacement clay tile to match the originals using 25 different original tile sizes and shapes removed from the roof. Ludowici, who made the originals, are not in the business of making custom molds for replacement tile. An Alpine snow rail system was added, which utilizes a metal mounting plate in the same size as the roofing field tile, to minimize disruption or cutting of field tile at points of attachment.
Wood windows at the attic dormers were severely deteriorated and were replaced with new wood windows. The rest of the wood windows had been protected for years by applied exterior storms and were in remarkably good condition. Reflections from the 1/1 exterior storms, however, obscured the muntin pattern that was an intrinsic part of the texture and patterning of Richardson's composition. To restore the unencumbered appearance and muntin pattern, but add energy efficiency and comfort, the project team routed-out the original sash to accept a 3/8" insulating glass unit (IGU) made from restoration glass. KSD Windows in New Hampshire did the IGU work, using Holloway restoration glass, which offers a comparable appearance and significantly lower cost than Bendheim restoration glass. Cheviot did the site work on windows and window frames. The sash were scraped to remove loose paint, but were not fully stripped of paint (at least there will be something for the next restoration team to do). The original paint colors (brown sash and red trim) were used; the windows were painted with an alkyd ("oil-based") primer and acrylic latex top coat. Removing the applied exterior storms and repainting the windows restored the visual impact of Richardson's original façade design (accentuating the depth of the window openings and the patterning of the window muntins as they relate to the overall façade composition).
On the exterior walls, the brick were generally in excellent condition, while the mortar was generally in good condition. The original mortar contained Portland cement, as do the mortars on most Richardson buildings. [Ed. Note: H.H. Richardson obviously never read the 1970's-era versions of Preservation Brief #2 (since revised) that described any mortar containing Portland cement as essentially sinister and highly inappropriate for historic buildings.] Lisa described the original mortar as approximately a 1:1:6 (Portland cement: lime: sand) mix. While many of Richardson's buildings included red pointing mortar, the original mortar on Sever was a dark charcoal gray, almost black. Some previous repointing efforts had used red mortar, perhaps erroneously assuming that the original pointing mortar must have been red, because it is a Richardson Building. The project team removed areas of previous red pointing mortar and repointed with a very dark mortar to match the original.
Lisa described the "gauged brick" trim and ornamental panels on the building, and referred us to Gerald Lynch's text "Gauged Brickwork" as an excellent resource. Gauged brick, a more common technique in England, saw some use in the US in the late 1800's. The hand-carving of gauged brick aligned with Richardson's valuation of the handcrafts, and his esteem for medieval architecture and craft guilds. Each decorative brick element is hand-carved and unique. Lisa believes the panels were carved off-site as "rubbers" - brick that were fired but not to the point of vitrification - and were not re-fired after carving, but appear to gain some additional hardness over time. The parts were laid-up as panels and the very narrow joints between individual units were filled originally with a paste mixture of dried or baked white lead and shellac. Restoration work included using Dremel tools to rake the very narrow joints and repoint with a red-colored, lime putty mortar to create a more monolithic look to the panels. Lisa praised RPM Masonry for their fastidious work in raking the joints. The brick and gauged brick were cleaned with a Hydroclean HT 626, diluted 6:1. The gauged brick appeared hard and durable, and in good condition - no surface treatment or consolidation were needed or used. Several committee members noted that the carved brick animals on the upper walls of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge's Harvard Biological Laboratories (c. 1930) are not gauged brick, but an entirely different process. The brick on the Biological Labs were carved in-place on the façade.
Sever Hall gauged brick panel before (left) and after (right) restoration.
The building is very heavily used during the academic year. The project mobilized the day after commencement and concluded on Labor Day. The submittals, shop drawings, and lead items were squared-away in advance, to enable the construction team to meet the aggressive schedule for summer construction.
Lisa praised the work of the contractors and artisans on the project - the team included Shawmut (GC), RPM for (masonry), Cheviot, and Shea. She also praised the tremendous craftsmanship with which Norcross originally constructed the building. Several committee members chimed-in about the remarkable construction of Norcross Brothers' buildings and the firm's understated legacy in architectural history. One committee member mentioned historian James O'Gorman's assertion that Norcross Brothers made Richardson's stone aesthetic possible and noted that Norcross Brothers had their own drafting department and did their own detailing. Credit for the durable and technically superb detailing of Richardson's buildings should go to Norcross Brothers. While some historians have called Richardson "the last master mason," Norcross Brothers might be more deserving of that title. Wendell Kalsow noted that the Victorian residences of the Norcross Brothers in Worcester are owned by Clark University, which takes a rather casual attitude toward their preservation. Although the houses appear to be kept watertight, they suffer from unsympathetic alterations, such as asphalt shingle roofs.
3. Inventory of Significant Modern Buildings in Boston: Henry Moss mentioned that the BSA Board has asked for a list of significant Modern buildings in Boston that might be worthy of greater awareness, advocacy, and possible protection. DoCoMoMo has drafted a preliminary list of a couple dozen buildings and is seeking input from the BSA/HRC, the Boston Preservation Alliance, and others. Initially, the list will only cover Boston. Matthew Bronski suggested that nominating this list as a thematic National Register District (even if the group were only determined to be "eligible" for listing). Henry is coordinating the HRC's efforts with DoCoMoMo and the BSA Board.
4. Access and Historic Buildings: Jonathan Smith, our HRC liaison to the BSA Access Committee, informed us that the Access Committee is trying to collect data to present to the access board on the problems designers encounter in attempting to apply the access requirements to historic buildings. A survey form was sent to all HRC members, as well as all BSA members, with email addresses in the databases. If you didn't receive this and want to, please contact Jonathan Smith.
5. Planned Threat to Historic Courthouse Row in Salem: David Hart mentioned a potential threat to a great ensemble of courthouses in Salem. DCAM is planning to dispose of the two court buildings, the 1841 Richard Bond granite County Courthouse and the 1862 Enoch Fuller Superior Court building. These, along with an 1818 Baptist Church and a 1920's Clarence Blackall courthouse, stand in a row, creating a remarkable streetscape of civic buildings. Historic Salem Inc. and local neighborhood groups strongly oppose the plan.
6. Lighthouses Hit the Shelves: Sara Wermiel's book on lighthouses (W. W. Norton) is now in bookstores. One committee member noted it prominently displayed in the architecture section of the Harvard Bookstore. The book is the fourth release in a Norton Library series of visual sourcebooks on architecture, design, and engineering images in the collections of Library of Congress. Other books in the series are Barns, Canals, and Theaters. Each title is authored by an expert in that particular field and comes with a CD containing high-resolution files of all the images in the book.
7. APT-NE Hammersmith Ironwork Workshop: APT-NE and Hammersmith Studio are offering a hand-on introduction to blacksmithing for making decorative ironwork. The workshop will be Jan. 27, 2007 from 9:30-5:30 at Hammersmith's Concord, MA studio. This is a unique opportunity and registration is limited. The cost for the day is $80 for APT-NE members and $100 for non-members. If you'd like to attend, contact Susan Hollister at Goody Clancy, susan.hollister@goodyclancy.com. Registration ends January 19th.
Susan Hollister invites HRC members to join APT-NE, the Northeast chapter of the Association for Preservation Technology. The Northeast Chapter includes both New York City and Boston. Susan noted that many talented and engaged preservation professionals in Boston who are members of APT are not members of APT-NE (national membership does not automatically make you a local member). She encourages us to join and get involved. Simply go to www.apti.org and follow the links to local chapter membership.
8. Concrete and Cast Stone Conference is Solidifying: Susan Schur informed us that specific venues at MIT have been booked for the March 2008 conference. The program line-up and speakers are coming together nicely, with many topics on both restoration and new design and materials developments for the 21st century. Hold the weekend of March 29-30, 2008 on you calendars.
8: 00 a.m., Thursday, 11 January 2007
The Architects' Building, 52 Broad Street, Boston, fifth floor
featuring
Philip Westover
"Enemies of Timber: a primer on wood deterioration issues"
Henry Moss, Matthew Bronski, and Sara Wermiel co-leaders and scribes