Iconic Minnesota skyscraper is transformed, but restoration program returns a stunning centerpiece of the Interior color and design building’s 1920s origins to its onetime glory PROJECTS: Resurrecting an of the Washington Monument. Still, The Foshay has endured as a significant archi- tectural work of the 20th centu- ry since its completion in 1929, art- earning a place in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and, recently, undergo- ing a transformation to become the W Hotel Minneapolis-The deco Foshay, part of the upscale “W” hotel group operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. The hotel developer—Ryan rehe Foshayl Tower,i an iconiccCompanies U.S. Inc.—and the design firm By Joe Maty Minneapolis landmark Munge Leung Design Associates presided Editor, JAC dating to the early days of over a major transformation of the building the American skyscraper, interior, integrating the upscale hotel can boast of a number of group’s trademark design and color interesting contradictions motifs—clearly of the contemporary vari- and mysteries: of fortunes ety—with the 1920s-vintage glamour and made and lost; of bad tim- glitz of an art-deco showpiece. The center- ing in the form of a debut at the wrong end of the piece of this art-deco pedigree, it turns out, Roaring ‘20s; of a quirky architectural combination is the elaborately crafted ceiling of the Tof art deco design with a geometric form evocative building’s lobby arcade, mostly obscured 8 / www.jacjournal.com Journal of Architectural Coatings / March / April 2009 or obliterated by periodic remodeling and Facing page: The first-floor redecorating, but rediscovered during the arcade of the Foshay Tower development project and restored to its one- (now the W Hotel time glory. An historic analysis of the ceil- Minneapolis-The Foshay) fol- lowing restoration of the ing and the restoration program were car- original art-deco ceiling. ried out by EverGreene Architectural Arts Photo by 1012 photo, cour- Inc., with offices in New York and Chicago. tesy of EverGreene Architectural Arts Inc. Right: Glories and stories a close-up of a portion of the of an architectural curiosity arcade’s restored coffered resulted in the oddity of Minnesota investors made good on the debt The Foshay was completed just months ceiling. Photo courtesy of floor-dimension sizes to Sousa’s estate. before the stock-market crash that marked The Sherwin-Williams that decrease incre- Still, The Foshay soldiered on, seeing the beginning of the Great Depression. The Company. Below left: The mentally from bottom decades of use as an office building in the structure, standing 447 feet high with an Foshay Tower, completed in to top, with a loss of heart of downtown Minneapolis, and beam- antenna mast that brings the total height to 1929, combines art deco about 50% of the floor ing the signals of a series of radio and tele- 607 feet, was the creation of Wilbur design with a geometric area between the sec- vision stations from the tower mast. Plans form evocative of the Foshay, a utilities magnate and onetime art ond and 30th floors. In for a $90 million conversion to a hotel were Washington Monument. student who planned to house his business a description of its announced in 2006 by Minneapolis-based Photo courtesy of The and residence in the tower. The building work on the building, Ryan Companies, and the hotel opened in Sherwin-Williams Company. was designed by Leon Eguene Arnal of the W Hotel-The Foshay 2008. developer Ryan Companies prefers to look at this exotic building plan in a positive light, The arcade restoration stating that the hotel features “57 unique mission and execution room variations” in its 230 rooms. Over the years, periodic renovations and Structurally, the building framework is remodelings had obscured many of the composed of steel and reinforced concrete, Foshay’s Art Deco interpretations. Among with an exterior clad in Indiana limestone. these forgotten features was the coffered Interior features include mahogany wood- ceiling of the ground-floor lobby arcade, an work and Italian marble walls and terrazzo elaborately molded and painted plaster floors in the first-floor arcade. The tower was masterpiece that was rediscovered during built at a reported cost of $3.75 million. renovations directed by the Ryan Wilbur Foshay trumpeted the tower’s Companies. The discovery was made when opening at a dedication ceremony attended workers removed the lobby’s existing drop by the prominent and powerful, including ceiling and encountered the original plaster members of Congress and cabinet secre- ceiling, with its intricate engravings, taries. March king John Philip Sousa con- embossing, and color schemes. ducted, entertaining guests with music that The developers and Toronto-based architecture firm Magney & Tusler—later included a march composed for the occa- Munge Leung, mindful of the landmark sta- Setter, Leach & Lindtrom—eventually sion called the “Foshay Tower-Washington tus of The Foshay and the importance of the acquired by Leo A. Daly. Memorial March.” original lobby ceiling in the historic fabric of The tower was sometimes called “the first Unfortunately, this rousing commencement the building, retained EverGreene Painting skyscraper west of the Mississippi,” a title was followed in short order by the resound- Studios—recently renamed EverGreene that generated some debate due to the ear- ing downbeat delivered by the 1929 market Architectural Arts Inc.—to conduct an inves- lier construction of buildings that are con- crash and onset of the Depression. His busi- tigation and analysis of the finishes on the sidered skyscrapers in Minneapolis and ness empire in shambles, Foshay never lived ceiling. The task was far from easy, due to other cities in the Midwest and West. Still, it in his gleaming new tower, which went into obstacles presented by the periodic remod- remains a milestone of concrete construc- receivership. Foshay’s check for Sousa’s new eling and redecorating programs. tion and Art Deco design, and its obelisk march bounced, silencing any rendition of Patricia Zimmerman, EverGreene project form and sides that slope slightly inward the tune until 1988, when a group of director, recalls that the challenges included Journal of Architectural Coatings / March / April 2009 www.jacjournal.com / 9 For more info, return Reader Inquiry Card the complete destruction of three of the cof- fers in the ceiling as a result of reconstruc- tion. Here, the studio team was required to re-create the plaster and paint composition and design based on evaluation of original ceiling areas that remained intact. Besides the more serious damage, the ceiling’s surfaces had been degraded by Above: The look of the W Hotel Minneapolis-The Foshay integrates the trademark contemporary design and color motifs of Starwood dirt, oxidation of metallic bronze accent Hotels & Resorts Worldwide with the 1920s-vintage glamour and glitz of art-deco design elements of The Foshay Tower. Photo courtesy paint, repainting, and oil migration and of The Sherwin-Williams Company. Photos below: Restoration of the original arcade ceiling involved analysis of existing plaster and associated varnish formation on the paint paint materials, recasting of portions of the surface, and application of custom-tinted finishes, metallic paint, and glazes. Photos courtesy of EverGreene Architectural Arts Inc. surface, according to the analysis compiled by EverGreene. The effects included a gen- The corners of the ceilings exhibited “an space. Reinstating the intent of the original elaborate art deco motif in the ornamental finish on the ceiling “will create a cohesive plaster,” Roesselet stated. “The various ele- appearance” in the arcade, he said. ments were accented with subtle poly- The restoration of the ceiling was execut- chromy, modulated glaze, and bronze ed by EverGreene artisans employing a accenting.” number of conventional interior paint and The analysis indicated that the entire cor- coatings products, along with specialty nice was decorated with bronze paint. The metallic paints and glazes. Key products deepest recesses of the cornice, which were included The Sherwin-Williams Company’s relatively untarnished, “hint at the original Duration Home® interior latex, an acrylic brilliance of this paint, and the bronze paint formulated to provide a high degree paint used throughout the ceiling decora- of stain and burnish resistance, washability, tion,” Roesselet said. Decorative schemes and resistance to mildew and other micro- eral darkening of the painted surface, a similar to other ornamental plaster on the bial organisms. The product was also spec- radical departure from the bold, vibrant ified for other interior walls throughout the original colors. redeveloped W Hotel-The Foshay, based In a detailed investigation, EverGreene’s on the recommendation of painting con- Bryon Roesselet removed samples of accu- tractor Swanson & Youngdale, St. Louis mulated paint layers on the various orna- Park, MN. mental-plaster ceiling and cornice ele- Products in the Duration Home line are ments, using instrumental methods to described as low in odor and low in VOCs microscopically analyze the paint and dec- (37-43 grams per liter, depending on gloss orative layers, and match the colors to the level), and have been given the company’s Munsell system of color notation. New “GreenSure” designation, based on envi- paint colors, supplied by The Sherwin- ronmental profile and performance charac- Williams Company, were selected. teristics.