Bringing masonry structures back to their original condition or repurposing them. Learn about the latest rehab tools: Cleaning, Tuckpointing, Sealing & more.
Design Trends
Rehab & Restoration
Archive (Photos)
Mesa Community College Performing Arts Center Hits High Note with Exquisite Masonry Design and Enhanced
Mesa Community College (MCC) in Mesa, Ariz., serves the academic needs of nearly 26,000 students by offering more than 200 degrees and certificates in everything from biotechnology, computer science, and dental hygiene to mortuary science and urban horticulture. However, it was a re-dedication to music and the arts that gave birth to a new Performing Arts Center, acoustically fine-tuned with an inner and outer shell of sound-reflective masonry.
Archive (Photos)
Mapping A Building’s Memory
On the National Register of Historic Places, the Attucks School in Kansas City, Mo., was built in 1905 for a cost of $36,811. By 1950, it enrolled more than 1,000 African-American students before becoming a desegregated elementary school in the 1960s.
Archive (Photos)
Age-Old Tuck-Pointing Technique Restores New Glory
With building restoration projects, you have few or no options other than to use existing materials to replicate an old building back to its former glory. But that is not always easy to do. Some buildings have major problems, from correcting structural issues to matching the aesthetic appeal of its original design. This work is not for the faint hearted because many times you won’t know what damage lies beneath the surface.
Archive (Photos)
Design Trends / Restoration: A Timely Renaissance
For nearly a century, throngs of area residents of Waltham, Mass., made their way to work in the iconic 1854 factory of the Waltham Watch Company along the Charles River. The first enterprise to produce watches on an assembly line, the company operated in its expansive, 405,000-square-foot facility until 1949, after which a few light industrial and office tenants occupied the buildings.
Archive (Photos)
LEED: A Focus on Product Transparency
When USGBC launched LEED v4, it significantly advanced its mission to “transform the way we think about how buildings and communities are designed, constructed, maintained, and operated.”
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Standing The Test Of Time
Cintec International, a leader in the field of structural masonry retrofit strengthening, repair, and preservation, reported recently that its patented anchors were used in the restoration of Astley Castle in Warwickshire, England. Following its renovations, Astley Castle was awarded the prestigious Riba Stirling Prize for Architecture.
Archive (Photos)
Recycling Historic Masonry Buildings: A Win-Win for the Public
The City of Houston has two “new” historic landmarks: Masonry buildings carefully restored, renovated and repurposed to tell stories of the city’s past while providing much needed community resources for today’s Houstonians.
Archive (Photos)
Materials: Masonry Cleaning & Restoration
As in all aspects of masonry, there is a great deal of artistry in restoring older and historic masonry. When tackling a new project, the artisan mason, while not looking for originality, needs to have a vision of the tradition of the structure, the composition and formulation of the original materials, and knowledge of the technology of the period in which the original was created.
Archive (Photos)
Boston’s Liberty Hotel
Balancing preservation with modern functionality is not an easy job for any restoration project, but when converting a 19th century prison into a 21st century, luxury hotel, the situation is unusual if not unprecedented. In 2002, a design and construction team led by Cambridge Seven Associates began a five-year process to restore the defunct Charles Street Jail in Boston.