Award of Merit Renovation/Restoration: The Foundry
An ambitious plan to transform a 50-year-old, 13-story office building into a 16-story, mixed-use residential development was nearly stymied at the outset when asbestos was discovered in nearly half of the interior walls as well as in the sealant used to glue drywall to columns. Adding resources to handle the expanded abatement work avoided what might have been a two-month delay in completing the project.
The structure was then improved by strengthening more than 250 columns and adding shear walls and steel moment frames to support the addition of three new steel framed floors as well as the new precast facade.