Larry Bauer is a principal at Solomon+Bauer Architects Inc. in Watertown, Mass. The firm designed plans for the renovations happening at the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s Bourne Building. Bauer recently spoke with Providence Business News about the project and what it’s like working around an active museum.
PBN: Can you tell us a little about the restoration project at the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s Bourne Building?
BAUER: Spurred by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and funding from the National Park Service, the New Bedford Whaling Museum is undertaking a long-studied renovation of the interior of the Bourne Building, the historic structure housing the museum’s signature exhibit, the half-scale whaling ship, Lagoda. The interior renovation follows the successful completion in 2007 of exterior restoration of the building.
The Bourne Building is a unique structure consisting of a single open room with a footprint of about 54 feet wide by 110 feet long. The central space is ringed by a mezzanine floor and crowned with a barrel-vaulted ceiling rising 50 feet above the floor to accommodate the masts of the Lagoda. The Georgian Revival structure was designed by renowned architect Henry Vaughn, most famous for his Gothic revival churches, including the initial design of the National Cathedral in Washington.
A major portion of the project budget will be allocated to retrofitting the structure with modern HVAC, lighting, fire protection and fire detection systems and the restoration of deteriorated interior finishes.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
PBN: A lot of the renovation involves installing 21st century technologies in an early 20th century structure. How do you do this while maintaining the historic charm of the building?
BAUER: While Solomon+Bauer prefers that major new elements introduced into an historic structure reflect the period of their installation, it also feels that more minor changes should be minimized and/or hidden if at all possible. One of the largest challenges in the renovation design is the accommodation of air supply and return ducts required at every level of the structure to evenly control temperature at all levels of the tall space housing the Lagoda. Generous existing attic spaces on either side of the barrel-vaulted ceiling will serve as the location for new air-handlers required to cool and heat the space and achieve modest humidity control.
The most visible change to the space will occur at the mezzanine level, where new chases housing air supply and return ducts will project into the mezzanine floor about two feet from the exterior wall. These chases will terminate at the floor of the mezzanine and will be placed between windows in a symmetrical pattern that is sympathetic to the rhythm of the mezzanine and barrel vault support colonnade. Historic mouldings and wainscoting will be salvaged and reused to clad these chases when possible. New material to match will be provided when additional material is needed. Wiring and sprinkler piping will be concealed within existing and new construction to minimize clutter and intrusive new elements. New lighting fixtures and air supply outlets are the most difficult new features to conceal. These elements will be contemporary to reflect the date of their installation.
PBN: How do you handle the challenge of performing a renovation while museum exhibits remain in place?
BAUER: This is a particular challenge in the renovation of the Bourne Building as the museum’s largest artifact, the Lagoda, cannot be relocated. Small collections objects have been removed from the space while other less mobile large artifacts such as whaleboats have been left in the space and covered with protective plastic sheeting and in some cases plywood enclosures. Fortunately, the bulk of the construction work is taking place in the upper reaches of the space.
To isolate construction operations, staging has been erected around the Lagoda supported on the surrounding floor. The staging supports a complete work floor at the base of the barrel vault spanning across the Lagoda and all of its rigging except for the tops of the two masts. Reinforced plastic sheeting has then been installed to seal off the construction area above the work floor from the spaces below. Where the tops of the Lagoda’s two masts poke through the work platform, the masts and rigging have been shrouded in plastic sheeting, the Whaling Museum’s “homage to Christo.”
Because the museum’s physical plant is an agglomeration of interlinked, but separate structures, it has been possible for the most of the museum to remain open to the public during the renovation project.
PBN: Has Solomon+Bauer utilized lessons learned from other museum projects at the New Bedford Museum?
BAUER: Solomon+Bauer’s long history of work with museum clients and historic structures has decidedly influenced its approach to the Bourne Building project. This experience came into immediate play in the selection of the consultant team, a group of engineering firms with deep experience working with Solomon+Bauer in museum environments. Knowledge of specialized, HVAC, fire protection and lighting systems commonly utilized in museums and techniques for their retrofit into often historic museum structures is essential in achieving a successful result. Consultant team members have been chosen for those qualifications.
Experience on a variety of other similar projects for museums with very diverse programmatic space needs has also taught S+BA the importance of designing for flexibility of space use. The Bourne Building in addition to housing the Lagoda will serve as a venue for changing exhibits, for large events and for educational programs. HVAC systems must be flexible enough to accommodate a range of group sizes and varied lighting levels while still providing energy efficient operation. Lighting must be both highly adjustable and highly efficient to provide for changing use patterns and low energy costs.
A third element of the Bourne Building renovation project implemented as the result of lessons learned on other projects is the construction manager approach to construction. The intense amount of coordination necessary to work in an historic structure surrounded by collections objects and requiring specialized systems, benefits greatly from a team approach to programming, design and construction. The presence on the project team during the design period of a construction manager experienced in working with museums and with historic structures greatly expedites the project process and fosters a spirit of cooperation that is very difficult to achieve in a standard bid process.
PBN: Can you speak a little about how museum projects have differed, if at all, during the past few years as many have seen less in the way of donations and government support?
BAUER: Although governmental support and private donations have fallen in the recent past, cuts attributable to these causes have had less of an impact on most museums than the reduction in income attributable to erosion in endowment value and rate of return. Fortunately, the New Bedford Whaling Museum has been the beneficiary of good management and minimal reliance on its endowment for operating funds.
The economic downturn in some ways has been a boon to the museum whose visitation has risen perhaps because of economic circumstances, which have kept museum visitors closer to home.
Solomon+Bauer has seen a number of its major museum projects put on hold as a result of the economic downturn, but has not seen a great change in the type of projects that museums are pursuing. A trend that has been accelerated by the economic downturn is an increasing focus on operating costs particularly as they relate to energy usage. Museums are increasingly looking at sustainable energy sources such as ground source geothermal well water and electricity from photovoltaic panels to reduce energy costs. In an effort to decrease energy consumption, museums have also been experimenting with broadened tolerance in temperature and humidity level fluctuations and in different and more efficient types of HVAC systems. Advances in lighting technology are also leading to reduced energy usage. LED and metal halide lamp technologies are being developed that will provide light of uniform color temperature and high color rendering capabilities at a fraction of the electrical usage of older technologies. Museums are showing an increasing interest in green.
