Highlights from Our 2024!
We are happy to have enjoyed a busy year with lots of projects at all phases of design and construction, a few awards honoring our preservation and restoration work, and plenty of office events and activities!
Recently Completed Projects
We completed work on many exciting projects this year, including the second phase of the McCartney Street Housing project at Lafayette College. The brick and cast stone construction aesthetically ties both phases together with the existing neighborhood on one side and the Lafayette campus on the other. The residence hall houses suite-style bedroom apartments with private baths, kitchens, and living spaces. Common study rooms, lounges, laundries, and a game room are located to provide a range of opportunities to support the community and build fellowship among the students. The 4-story residence hall also includes commercial space at street level. McCartney Street Phase 1 was completed in 2020.
Other finished work includes projects at the Science History Institute and YouthBuild Charter School.
Office Events
Our staff took time out of the office this year to learn on site from a few milestone projects, including a construction site visit to the ongoing renovation of College Hall at the University of Pennsylvania.
At College Hall, we have completed multiple phases of work on the historic building, including the replacement of the West Wing serpentine cladding, roof restoration, restoration and replacement of the building’s 344 historic monumental windows, as well as a full renovation of the West Wing interior, including new classrooms and seminar rooms, administrative spaces for the Provost’s office and the Department of History, restoration of historic corridors and significant rooms, three new elevators, and other improvements to make the building fully accessible.
College Hall was also a featured tour at this year’s National SCUP Conference held in Philadelphia, where administrators and architects from colleges and universities around the country were able to learn about the significant renovation.
Honors and Awards
This year, several of our projects were recognized for their excellence in design and construction. This includes two major preservation projects, the restoration of the Building 57 South Offices at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and the relocation and restoration of a historic filling station to Fairmount Park. Both projects received a Grand Jury Award from the Preservation Alliance of Philadelphia.
Building 57 is a historic manufacturing building at the former Philadelphia Navy Yard. The building was originally constructed by the US Navy in 1919 and is located in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard National Historic District. The South Office renovations, completed in 2023, relocated the main entry to Rhoad’s administrative space and included rebuilding a historic roof monitor. The 120’ long monitor floods the open office space and glass fronted private offices with light.
The Filling Station, built in 1930, originally served as a gas station when the lot it was originally built on was leased to the Gulf Oil company. After its relocation to Fairmount Park, the restoration included brick masonry repairs and repointing, a new clay tile roof, new windows and doors, and the renovation of its interior to create a flexible meeting space.