Traditional Building Conference Brooklyn 2017 Schedule

Our final conference of 2017 was held at the Grand Prospect Hall  in Brooklyn, NY. Here's a look at the schedule of seminars, tours, and speakers. 

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

8 - 9:00 am Registration, Continental Breakfast, and Networking with Suppliers

9 - 9:15 am Introductions

9:15 - 10:15 am The Architectural Traditions of Brooklyn

Speaker: Francis Morrone, Architectural Historian, Brooklyn, NY

1 AIA Learning Unit

Context is everything for traditional building professionals. Whether restoring historic buildings, designing infill structures that reflect a sense of place, or building anew in traditional ways, practitioners want to understand the architectural history and building traditions that demonstrate the history and character of communities. Our speaker, a Brooklyn resident and preeminent architectural historian, will share his insights on the role that neoclassical and romantic revival architectural designs have played in shaping Brooklyn’s character.

Learning Objectives

10:15 - 10:40 am Networking Break

10:40 - 11:45 am Brooklyn’s Fire Headquarters: A Case Study in Restoring Terra Cotta Roofs

Speakers: Scott Lange, Regional Sales Manager, Northeast and Midwest, Ludowici, New Lexington, OH and John Carey. Carey Sales Company, LLC, Ramsey, NJ

1 AIA HSW Learning Unit

The presenters will discuss the restoration of Brooklyn’s Fire Headquarters building, specifically the traditional terra cotta roof. It will detail the roof restoration process from tile identification to historic tile profile and color matching, from manufacturing the tile itself to installation. The Brooklyn Fire Headquarters was designed by Canadian born architect Frank Freeman (1861-1949) in the Romanesque style. Freeman was a prolific architect working in Brooklyn and Manhattan; the Fire Headquarters is among his most highly praised buildings. The roof features some steep hips distinguished by conical caps for turret-like columns and an eyebrow window.

Learning Objectives

11:45 am - 12:35 pm Lunch

12:35 - 3:15 pm Choice of Two Tours:

Tour 1: Green-Wood Cemetery Tour: Architecture and Conservation

Speakers: LJ Lindhurst, Digital Marketing Director, Home Group, Active Interest Media, Brooklyn, NY; guide, Green-Wood Cemetery and Blogger, Lost to Sight and Neela K. Wickremesinghe, Manager of Restoration and Preservation, Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY

2 AIA HSW Learning Units

Established in 1838, Green-Wood Cemetery comprises 478 acres in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. It is resplendent with finely crafted mausoleums, gates, and monuments representing many architectural styles and important architects of the 19th and 20 centuries. The tour will explore important architecture in the cemetery and visit with staff conservators to learn about state of the art stone restoration and current conservation efforts at the cemetery. Sites will include Richard Upjohn's Neo-Gothic Gates, Warren & Wetmore's historic chapel, Stanford White and Augustus Saint-Gaudens' mausoleum for the Gardner family, Paul S. Byard's Tranquility Gardens, and more. Green-Wood Cemetery was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006 by the National Register of Historic Places.

Learning Objectives

Tour 2: Conservators at Work: A Behind the Scenes Tour of EverGreene Architectural Arts

Speakers: Kim Lovejoy, Senior Business Developer, and Bill Mensching, Creative Director, EverGreene Architectural Arts, New York, NY

2 AIA HSW Learning Units

This tour will take participants to EverGreene’s new 30,000 square foot architectural arts studio in Brooklyn’s Industry City. Industry City is an adaptive reuse of six million square feet of industrial space on Brooklyn’s waterfront in the Sunset Park neighborhood. Today, artisans, designers, and chefs are at work in this hub of creativity. EverGreene Architectural Arts is one of the largest architectural conservation and restoration studios in North America. Established in 1978, EverGreene’s mission is to provide pre-construction and construction services for significant buildings requiring conservation, restoration or new design. EverGreene’s staff is comprised of designers and makers creating a variety of architectural arts, such as: murals, fine art, decorative plaster and paint, gilding, metals, mosaics and other finishes. Attendees will be able to view the hands-on work being undertaken by EverGreene artisans to restore and, at times, remake crucial interior features. Participants will learn about Industry City as well as observe several design, plaster and mural conservation projects in process. This will be an opportunity to understand the workings of a modern paint and decorative arts studio.

Note: Participants should wear comfortable shoes and be prepared for extensive walking and standing. Participants will travel via subway; fare passes are included in the tuition fee.

Learning Objectives:

3:15 - 3:40 pm Networking Break

3:40 - 4:45 pm Historic Main Street: A Pattern for New Development

Speakers: Andrew Cogar, AIA, President, Historical Concepts, Atlanta, GA, and New York, NY, and Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, and Elizabeth Dillon, AIA, Principal, Historical Concepts, New York, NY

1 AIA HSW Learning Unit

The presentation will use the small town of Senoia, GA and its renaissance over the past decade as a case study for protecting and extending existing historic districts through precedent-based infill and redevelopment. Other relevant examples will be included to show how using the planning and architectural patterns of historic main street districts helps to inform new traditional developments.

Learning Objectives

4:45 - 5:40 pm The Case for Rebuilding McKim, Mead and White’s Penn Station (1910-1963)

Speakers: Clem Labine, Editor Emeritus, Clem Labine’s Traditional Building and Clem Labine’s Period Homes, Brooklyn, NY and Richard Cameron, principal and owner, Atelier & Company, Brooklyn, NY

1 AIA HSW Learning Unit

Join Clem Labine and Richard Cameron for a thought-provoking discussion about what a rebuilt Penn Station could do for Manhattan and the traveling public. The presenters will examine original drawings of the station from the collection of the New York Historical Society as well as new renderings of a rebuilt station prepared for the National Civic Art Society. They will delve deeply into transportation planning from the historical perspective of McKim, Mead and White’s (MMW) desire to serve modern transportation in a neoclassical setting and why it could be valuable to do likewise in the 21st century. This session will answer some of these questions as well as related political and economic issues plus the challenges posed by the new Gateway Tunnel.

Learning Objectives

6 - 7:00 pm Networking Reception
Brooklyn Bavarian Biergarten (located directly next door to Grand Prospect Hall)
Sponsored by Thermolite

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

8 - 9:00 am Registration, Continental Breakfast and Networking with Sponsors

9 - 9:15 am Introductions

9:15 - 10:15 am Specifying Reclaimed Long Leaf Yellow Pine for New Construction

Speaker: Aaron C. Ruby, AIA, LEED AP, Allison+Partners, Inc., Little Rock, AR

1 AIA HSW Learning Unit

Professional opportunities to reconstruct period architecture are rare today. When they come along, professionals are charged with getting the details right…but the project must comply with modern codes. This presentation focuses on the use of long leaf yellow pine used in the reconstruction of the William Woodruff Print Shop at the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock, AK. Once the wood species of choice in 19th century America, long-leaf yellow pine is virtually extinct today. Nevertheless, large beams and structural members once used in warehouses and industrial projects are finding new uses today in floor joists, floor decking, windows, and doors. The instructor will discuss the species and how to adapt the material for new uses including flooring, second floor and attic joists, windows, doors, and mantles.

Learning Objectives

10:15 - 10:45 am Break

10:45 - 11:45 am UConn Hartford: The University Returns to Main Street

Speakers: Preston J. Gumberich, AIA, Partner at Robert A.M. Stern Architects (New York, New York); and Breen Mahony, AIA, Senior Associate at Robert A.M. Stern Architects (New York, New York).

Responding to the preferences of increasing numbers of university students' to attend schools located in urban centers, surrounded by business opportunities, cultural institutions, shopping and entertainment, and better served by mass transit, the University of Connecticut opened an all-new campus in Downtown Hartford's Adriaen's Landing district in September 2017. Paralleling the flight of corporate headquarters from cities, the University of Connecticut had moved their Hartford extension campus from downtown to West Hartford in 1970; but changing times led to the recognition of the importance of the synergies and accessibility downtown Hartford offered, and the decision to return to the city was clinched in 2013. Built for the University by the HB Nitkin Group, the private developer responsible for recent retail and residential buildings along Front Street, and designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, the new UConn Hartford campus incorporates the colonnaded facade of the 1920 Hartford Times Building, preserving, adding to, and reactivating a local landmark that had stood vacant for a dozen years, and adds to it 140,000 square feet of new classrooms, offices, and social spaces around a public courtyard.

Learning Objectives

11:45 am - 12:45 pm Lunch

12:45 - 2:15 pm The Beekman: Adaptation and Expansion - A 2017 Palladio Award Winning Project

Speakers: Randy Gerner, Design Principal, Gerner Kronick & Valcarcel Architects and TBA

1.5 AIA HSW Learning Units

This session will offer a case study of a project that combined preservation, adaptive reuse, and new construction to create a 190,000 square foot hotel and condominium residence from a trilogy of eclectic buildings, including an 1880s Neo-Grecian/French Second Empire/Queen Anne red brick building, an 1890s Romanesque building clad in Irish limestone, and a new 46-story tower. Extensive restoration work was completed in the historic core including plaster repair and millwork replication. The building’s atrium, a true centerpiece, features decorative cast iron, terra cotta flat arches, and elaborate tile work. The atrium presented a myriad of code compliance challenges that were solved with an alarm-activated smoke curtain. Introduction of new heating, ventilating, cooling, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems were concealed in effective ways without compromising historic details.

Learning Objectives

2:15 - 2:45 pm Networking Break

2:45 – 3:45 pm Carving Brownstone: A Case Study of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Albany, NY

Speaker: Laurie Wells, Vice President, Old World Stone, B.E.S, Architecture and M.A., Conservation

1 AIA HSW Learning Unit

This case study of the brownstone restoration at the Albany, NY Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, will offer participants a thorough analysis of problems and solutions for one of Brooklyn’s most widely used building materials: brownstone. This session will examine essential documentation, assessment, and replication of missing architectural elements and provide insights into the performance characteristics and proper installation of brownstone.

Learning Objectives

3:45 - 4:00 pm Break

4 - 5:00 pm A Strong Case for Specifying Exterior Steel Windows and Doors

Speakers: Peter Brudenell and Robert Higgins, Crittall

1 AIA HSW Learning Unit

Steel Windows and Doors have been in use since Henry Bessemer perfected the manufacture of mild steel, an iron/carbon alloy, in 1884. They have been widely used in residential, commercial, institutional, hospitality and educational buildings ever since. Steel windows and doors are often important elements in historic preservation projects for early to mid-twentieth century buildings. This session presents an in-depth examination of what to look for in evaluating and specifying well-made steel windows and doors for new construction, rehabilitation, or historic preservation projects.

Learning Objectives