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Sustainable Restoration of Yale University's Art + Architecture Building

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Sustainable Restoration of Yale University's Art + Architecture Building Sustainable Restoration of Yale University’s Art + Architecture Building RUSSELL M. SANDERS, BENJAMIN SHEPHERD, ELIZABETH SKOWRONEK, AND ALISON HOFFMANN Renovation of a Modernist icon Renovation of Paul Rudolph Hall at by a serious fire in 1969, the structure demanded innovation to restore the Yale University suffered a series of unsympathetic reno- vations, which split and reconfigured its original aesthetic while incorporating When Yale University’s Art + Architec- soaring double-height drafting room and ture Building was completed in 1963, sustainable-design strategies. obstructed light and views. The external New York Times architecture critic Ada facade was scarred and barely recogniz- Louise Huxtable praised it as “a spec- able after Rudolph’s vast fenestrations tacular tour de force.”1 It appeared on were filled in with double-glazed win- the cover of every major architecture dows that were disrespectful of the magazine and has since been described original geometries. Interior volumes as “the Bilbao of its day.”2 Designed by lost their definition not only through Paul Rudolph, then chair of the School unwelcome intrusions and divisions but, of Architecture, the Art + Architecture more importantly, by removal of the Building is considered one of his most ceiling planes and the signature linear important works. The complex of inter- lighting system that defined them. locking spaces and strata catapulted the For the project team in 2006, the designer to fame with its assertive treat- task was imposing: restore a controver- ment of concrete forms (Fig. 1). sial, commanding piece of American By the late 1990s, however, the build- architectural heritage while introducing ing had been so altered that it bore little new infrastructure and sustainability resemblance to its original form. Marred measures. Previous renovation efforts had aimed to address practical short- comings in the original design, but the 2008 restoration was the first that sought to honor the Modernist cult figure Rudolph had become after he designed this monument to the architec- ture department. It was also one of the first to place sustainable-design consid- erations at the forefront of the renova- tion effort, a commitment that garnered the project a United States Green Build- ing Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. Context Although Rudolph’s design had its de- fenders, many saw the building’s hulk- ing forms and rough textures as abra- sive. Since its completion, the iconic building has dominated the downtown commercial district over which it pre- sides. Multiple exterior renovations to the 114,000-square-foot, cast-in-place Fig. 1. Yale Arts Complex, consisting of Paul Rudolph Hall and the Jeffrey H. Loria Center for the concrete structure exaggerated its History of Art. Sketch and model by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects. 29 30 APT BULLETIN: JOURNAL OF PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY / 42:2-3, 2011 Fig. 2. Schematic of the corduroy-concrete repair detail, showing custom Fig. 3. Wood formwork in position for corduroy-concrete repair, Paul wood formwork, Paul Rudolph Hall. Courtesy of Hoffmann Architects, Inc. Rudolph Hall, photograph 2008. Courtesy of Hoffmann Architects, Inc. fortress-like bearing by diminishing Application and Intent ble by today’s codes. Fire sprinklers with views into Rudolph’s surprisingly open exposed pipes and sprinkler heads were The renovation design, which resulted yet complex interior. added over the last 20 years, contribut- from the integration of programmatic, Some of the most egregious interven- ing to the overall run-down look of the structural, and mechanical needs, in- tions included the removal of the origi- building. As part of the 2008 work, a cluded restoration of exterior walls, nal ceiling planes, the insertion of mez- new sprinkler system, which employed installation of historically correct win- zanines into the grand fourth-floor wall sprinklers to create fire separations dows, and upgrades to all building facil- studio volume — the college’s solution between spaces, was added. With care- ities. It also introduced new lighting and to overcrowding — and closing off the fully selected, discreet locations for the furnishings throughout and brought the light wells that in the original design piping, the system brought the building structure into compliance with current allowed natural light to penetrate deeply into full compatibility with current fire building-code regulations.3 into the underground volumes, which codes. Meeting the current codes was espe- were all part of the renovations follow- cially challenging with respect to the ing the 1969 fire. The original mono- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) The Building Envelope: Consistency lithic ceilings, made of asbestos, were and fire codes. The original building and Performance removed in the late 1970s. These visu- utilized some 37 different levels over 9 ally uniform planar ceilings underscored A 1994 renovation replaced most of the floors, making wheelchair accessibility spatial dynamics and served as a plenum Art + Architecture Building’s original impossible. In addition, handrails and for the HVAC, with discreet coves for steel-framed, single-pane windows with guardrails either were not present or did registers and integrated lighting systems. insulating-glass, aluminum-framed not meet code requirements as to size, Rudolph’s linear array of bare, incandes- units, and in so doing altered the build- height, and openness. New handrails 4 cent R-lamps served as a volume defini- ing profile. Not only were the replace- were added as needed following the tion as much as illumination. Stripping ment windows much smaller than the original materials, color, and design the building of these crucial elements originals, but this renovation attempted geometries; these interventions are vir- slowly transformed it into a poorly lit, to rectify shallow reinforcement place- tually unnoticeable unless one looks at nearly hostile environment. ment in the spandrel beams by affixing the original photographs. Selective The project team’s challenge, then, precast concrete panels to the spandrel changes in the floor levels were also was to reintegrate the sometimes con- face. As a result, the vertical plane of employed to make all spaces fully acces- tentious structure into the community the building was shifted outward by sible. The addition of a new elevator by resurrecting the vision and legacy of several inches. bank in the adjacent Jeffrey H. Loria Rudolph. In practical terms, this meant Re-creating the appearance of the Center for the History of Art, part of the incorporating infrastructure upgrades original fenestration while meeting 2008 building expansion, alleviated 5 and restoring exposed concrete surfaces, current energy standards posed multiple most of the access issues. while satisfying the design objectives of challenges. To fit insulating glass into The original building did not employ the building’s occupants: the faculty and Rudolph’s vast openings, the 1994 any sprinklers, and the spatial connec- students of Yale School of Architecture, window-replacement project had used tions between three or four different as well as the Yale Arts Library. multiple-pane windows, adding framing levels created fire hazards not permissi- YALE UNIVERSITY’S ART + ARCHITECTURE BUILDING 31 and compromising the original mass and crete coverage. Wood forms for the light interplay at the building envelope. concrete overlay would be anchored to The 2008 restoration specified vast glass the spandrels, with bolts positioned to sheets developed to reduce heat gain and replicate the size and spacing of anchor energy consumption. After mock-ups holes on the original beams. Using were evaluated for aesthetics and perfor- hooked rods, a mesh screen would be mance, the project team selected a glaz- secured to the substrate both as rein- ing product that provided suitable insu- forcement and as protection against lating properties, low-emissivity (low-e), shrinkage. and glare reduction, while reproducing, Specifying the right concrete mix was as closely as possible, the look of the the challenge. The building profile al- original windows. Fabricated by Vira- lowed only a few inches of depth for con, the 8-by-12-foot panels were some repair of the spans. To reduce the possi- of the largest single sheets of insulating bility of hairline cracks, the designers’ glass ever made in the United States. first approach used large, preplaced This change was the single most impor- aggregate and pumped the concrete mix tant aspect of the renovation in terms of up through the bottom of the form- the impact on the building’s appearance work. However, mock-up tests showed from the street. that pressure within the narrow forms What made the restoration of the became great enough to force the con- spandrels particularly difficult was the crete mix out through joints in the impressive size of the beams; some span- wood. Voids between the large pieces of ned as much as 70 feet. Developing a aggregate were also an issue. Fig. 4. View of fourth-floor jury space and fifth- concrete formulation that would repli- To accommodate the restrained floor studio space, including the statue of cate the original appearance, hold up conditions, as well as the multistory Minerva, Paul Rudolph Hall. Photograph by well as a thin overlay, and resolve prob- ascent from the mix truck, the project Richard Barnes. lems inherent to the existing construc- team developed a high-performance, tion was the challenge. Like much of the small-aggregate mix.6 A low water-to- held up beyond expectation, with only concrete in the building, the spandrels cement ratio, combined with a propri- negligible hairline cracks. bore a distinctive finish. Although the etary anti-shrink admixture, performed Like the board-form spandrel beams, structure is known for its corrugated well in petrographic, air content, and the distinctive “corduroy”-textured walls, the spandrels had a horizontal compression-strength laboratory test- concrete suffered from poor construc- board finish that needed to be repli- ing.7 To reproduce the original surface tion practices.
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