The Beaux-Arts facade of the historic former newspaper headquarters features a muraled arcade and green granite pillars that were salvaged from Stanford White’s Madison Square Presbyterian Church prior to its demolition in 1919. The entire 160-foot western-facing facade was preserved, along with half of its original 60-foot-deep massing.
Photo credit: Bernstein Associates.
- Photo credit: Bernstein Associates.
This new urban satellite campus incorporates the facade of the historic Hartford Times Building (1920) into state-of-the-art facilities centered around a new courtyard that is open to the public.
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The Beaux-Arts facade of the historic former newspaper headquarters features a muraled arcade and green granite pillars that were salvaged from Stanford White’s Madison Square Presbyterian Church prior to its demolition in 1919. The entire 160-foot western-facing facade was preserved, along with half of its original 60-foot-deep massing.
Since any inherent ductility of the existing unreinforced masonry walls could not be relied on to reduce seismic loads, Silman applied steel to the face of the brick wall to act as conventional reinforcement. The restored historic structure ties into a new five-story addition via the courtyard between the three buildings.
Because the levels of the original building did not align with those of the rest of the campus, the spaces between old and new were full of hanging and transferred columns, leaving no room for a lateral frame along the cut-away back of the old building. To solve this issue, Silman utilized the existing masonry in two ways: as the main lateral load resisting system in one direction, and as a method of seismic isolation in the other.
New steel (foreground) meets historic facade (background) at UConn Hartford. Photo credit: Bernstein Associates.
The new building, which features a 50-foot-by-80-foot atrium, provides multipurpose spaces with ample natural light. Photo credit: Bernstein Associates.
- New steel (foreground) meets historic facade (background) at UConn Hartford. Photo credit: Bernstein Associates.
- The new building, which features a 50-foot-by-80-foot atrium, provides multipurpose spaces with ample natural light. Photo credit: Bernstein Associates.
The new building also houses classrooms and offices for a variety of academic programs previously located at UConn’s West Hartford campus. The overall mixed-use development also includes 20,000 gsf of retail space, 45 parking spaces, and a shared loading dock/services area. The campus has a target of LEED Gold certification.
