David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center

This project entailed the restoration and adaptive reuse of a 1908 greenhouse whose original design was loosely inspired by the Orangerie at the Palace of Versailles. One striking structural feature is the building’s colonnade, whose 12 pairs of steel columns run the length of the open interior.

The structure’s conversion to an art studio and theater required the removal of several rows of interior columns to create clear sightlines, reconfiguration and reinforcement of roof framing impacted by the removed columns, reinforcement of existing exterior columns, and new pile-supported foundations and grade beams (tie beams) to accommodate new loads. Additional work included wall penetrations to accommodate programming and MEP needs, a terrace and trellis, and a pavilion addition. The project uses features such as on-site solar panels and a stormwater garden to achieve its LEED Platinum certification goal.

This work followed Silman’s completion of an existing conditions report, which found the structure to be in essentially stable condition. As part of this scope, Silman conducted probe observations and coordinated non-destructive evaluation of the site to assess the cause of local subsidence at one corner of the building.