Orchard House School: An Adaptive Reuse Project

  

This essay will outline the story of the renovation and adaptive reuse of the building located at 500 N. Allen Avenue in Richmond’s Historic Fan District.   Originally constructed in 1908 as a private, Jewish men’s club, the site had seen many incarnations before the principles of  Orchard House School, a private single-sex middle school for girls, purchased the property in 2004. Orchard House had outgrown its original, leased space in Ginter Park, and needed to find a more permanent home.  We will take a look at the parameters of the project and the costs.  We will also take a brief look at another highly-publicized adaptive reuse project for a school in New York City.  Finally, we will discuss the successes and challenges of the Orchard House project.

500 N. Allen Avenue: A Brief History

500 N. Allen Avenue was constructed in 1908.  It was built as a Jewish Men’s club and literary society, called The Jefferson Club. The Department of Historic Resources considers this building to be of historical significance as it represents the social activities, such as cards, dances, and various other social function, of a wealthy, Jewish population that built the early blocks of Monument Avenue.  Many of the early houses in the area were built by successful Jewish merchants and professionals.  The building was designed by Dimmock and Lee, specifically by Marion Dimmock.    The local chapter of the Elks Club moved into 500 N. Allen from the 1920’s to the 1970’s, and the building saw a very active life for many years.  As the club’s membership dwindled, parts of the building were closed off and fell into disrepair.  When David Martin, principle of The Martin Agency, purchased the building in the 1980’s the building had stood empty for many years and had fallen into terrible disrepair.  The Martin Agency gave the building a sensitive renovation putting up temporary divisions for office space, and updating electrical and heating systems. When the Martin Agency moved to its Shockoe Bottom location, they rented parts of the building to the Vineyard Christian Fellowship church for a couple of years.  Again, parts of the building were shut up and suffered from neglect. 

The building has three stories and is faced in red brick with Classical Revival details.  There are two facades which face both Grace Street and Allen Avenue and are composed of a central block with two corner pavilions.  The windows are varied in size and shape.  The main block on Allen Avenue contains large French doors on the first floor.  The center block has a simple parapet.  The Grace Street entrance has a distinguished, covered portico.  One of the most distinguishing features of the building is a third floor auditorium with a stage at one end and large columns framing the north end.  The room is filled with light from the grand arched windows that rise from floor almost to ceiling height. 

One of the greatest challenges of the project, as with many adaptive reuse projects, lay in its central location within an urban neighborhood and the surrounding Historic Districts.  The building is bounded by the Fan Historic District, The West Grace Street Historic District and the Monument Avenue Historic District.  David Johannas at Johannas Design Group has been credited with successfully navigating these potentially precarious relationships. One of the jobs was to reassure the neighbors and the historic districts that the renovation would not drastically alter the outside appearance of the historic building, and that the activities of the school would in no way negatively impact the neighborhood.  Concerns that were raised by surrounding neighbors included noise, parking, congestion from carpool lines, the lack of athletic facilities potential problems of evening events.

The renovation at Orchard House only took four months to complete as the school wanted to be open and ready for the start of the school year in 2005.  The renovation was done in two phases: 1st, 2nd and 3rd stories and then the basement renovation.  (Funding for the second phase of the project were secured through the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation) 

The delineated spaces of the former Jewish Men’s Club of 1914 were kept mainly intact.  Additions made to the interior included a new main staircase in the front hall, fireproofing in the walls and bringing all the systems up to code.  Structurally, the corners of the front section of the building required additional joists below grade level to prop up the sagging corners of the building.  This was the only major structural problem which had to be addressed by a structural engineer.   No further sagging has been detected.

The administrators of the school proudly point to the re-use of a “huge” beam that came from an upper floor, which was cut down to fill in missing floorboards on the first floor.  They are, also,proud of the extensive re-use of many doors in new places throughout the building. 

A certain amount of creativity had to be employed in order to make a former club suitable for use as a school.  The absence of athletic facilities has been rectified through cooperation with nearby athletic facilities.  The former ballroom on the third floor has magnificent, arched windows on two sides with commanding views of the historic neighborhood.  This space serves as the school auditorium, dance and theatre space, indoor athletic activities, social events and general meeting space for students, parents and teachers.  Everyone agrees that this beautiful, historic light-filled space truly enhances the experience at Orchard House. 

There are two original staircases, which were kept completely intact.  These wide and heavily ornamented spaces serve as impromptu meeting space and study areas for the girls. The principal, staff and board members are very pleased with life at Orchard House and they cherish the role of stewards of this historic building.  Many of the students have expressed the sentiment that the beautiful building was one of the first things that first attracted them to Orchard House School.  Orchard House has become a valued asset to its neighborhood and the community at large. 

Avenues:  The World School Project

One of the most well-known and highly publicized adaptive reuse projects of recent years was the transformation of New York City’s High Line Railroad system into a public park.  The High Line was a series of freight  lines that ran through lower Manhattan built for the purpose of facilitating the delivery of produce and other goods to the city.  The rail lines mostly ran right through the crowded streets of New York, but the High Line was raised 30 feet in the air for safety reasons.  Long-abandoned, dirty and dangerous the High Line was an eyesore and a blight on the city.  Through a combination of public/private efforts, 1.5 miles of the original 15 mile track was transformed into a public park with restaurants and art galleries.  The project was completed in 2011 and attracted a very interesting sister project in its wake…the creation of The Avenues: The World School. 

The Avenues is a state-of-the-art, private school with grades K-12.  It is the first of a network of schools to be built in major cities around the world with the purpose of teaching children how to live, work and excel within a global culture.  The curriculum and teaching styles reflect the global vision of the school, including three language requirements to graduate.

The building at 10^th Avenue and 25^th Street in West Chelsea was chosen for the flagship location of the school because of its proximity to the hugely successful High Line project.  A former wholesale grocery warehouse, the building was designed in 1928 by Cass Gilbert, the prominent American architect responsible for the Woolworth Building and the US Supreme Court Building.  (avenues.org) The structure is 215,000 square feet.  The school wanted to add 35 feet of height to allow for the construction of a basketball court and a gym, but had to acquire a height variance as this would be 34” taller than zoning would allow.  This variance took almost a year to be approved.  Some of the neighbors were dissatisfied with the height variance as it would obstruct views from many of the luxury high-rise apartment buildings in nearby Chelsea. (Arak, 2011)

According to the school’s website, third floor dining halls would have open access to the park-like setting of The High Line and it states:  “With the help of Perkins Eastman’s architectural design and Bonetti/Kozerski Studio’s interior design, Avenues has a unique opportunity to become an integrated part of a remarkable New York City park”.  The entire project is estimated to have cost $75 million.  The school opened in September 2012 and is filled to capacity with a long waiting list. (avenues.org) This is a remarkable example of the power of a successful adaptive reuse project.  This is also an example of the positive “domino effect” that one successful adaptive reuse project can have on its surrounding community.  

Just a Bit of Eye Candy...State Capitol Buildings

On this snowy Monday afternoon, I thought I would share some sweet State Capitol Building eye candy.  No info, no architects...not even construction dates.  What a lazy Architectural historian.  enjoy!

California

Massachusettes

South Carolina

Tennesse

Louisiana

Wisconsin

...and, of course, my favorite...

Virginia


 

New York, New York....and the Rise of the Luxury High-Rise

   The high-rise apartment building was a relatively new building type in the mid 1800's.  The need for such a type arose in cities across the U.S. where land was quickly becoming scarce and prices soared.  By 1860, the population in New York had reached one million, of which about 42% were new immigrants. 

     The cost of building and maintaining large urban townhouses was becoming untenable even for the upper classes.  But, developers had to change perceptions of "apartment living" in order to convince the gentry to consider such a move.


  Prior to the mid 19th century, the only apartment buildings in New York were tenements at the lower end of Manhattan, inhabited by poor immigrants.  According to author, Elizabeth Hawes "all respectable New Yorkers lived in private homes".  Developer Rutherford Stuyvesant is often credited with building the first luxury high-rise apartment building in New York. The Stuyvesant was located at 142 E. 18th Street in 1869, and was razed in the 1930's. 



The design was by William Morris Hunt after a chance meeting in Paris with Stuyvesant.  Hunt  had spent a decade living and traveling the great cities of Europe where apartment living had been around since ancient Roman cities were built.  Hunt and Stuyvesant knew that young America was ready for this building type.   

The first tenants at The Stuyvesant, nicknamed Hunt's Folley, had a lot to do with making apartment living cool.  Although, a very bohemian bunch, all had excellent social credentials.  There was General Custer's widow,  a great-niece of Thomas Jefferson, and Calvert Vaux, co-designer of Central Park. 

     The next great apartment building in New York was the now-legendary Dakota, still famous and still standing high above Central Park at 1 West 72nd Street.  When completed in 1884, The Dakota stood alone looming over the park on a street where cows and goats still grazed.  The Dakota, designed by Henry Hardenbergh, had a couryard plan much like the ancient Roman houses and insulae.  The courtyard plan was implemented in many New York buildings allowing for much-needed light and air. 

     Over the next thirty years, almost all upper and middle income resident of New York city would make the move to apartment living.  Other large and mid-sized cities followed suite as land became scarce and expensive.  Cities like Philadelphia; Washington, DC; and Boston all had luxury apartment buildings by the turn of the century.  Smaller cities like Richmond followed in their wake.   


The Chesterfiled Apartments, 900 W. Franklin Street, Richmond, VA

Welcome to ArchH101

Welcome to my blog.  I will be sharing articles, essays and images that celebrate the built environment.  I am passionate about the preservation of America's cultural heritage, not just from an artistic perspective but also from a sustainability viewpoint.  After all, THE "GREENEST" BUILDING IS THE ONE THAT'S ALREADY BUILT.

Through the Garden Gate

     In the mid 18^th century in England, a Renaissance of landscape architecture occurred.  Those who extolled the virtues of Palladianism, led by Lord Burlington and his followers, heralded the perfection of Nature and Reason.  Democracy and freedom were tenons of the Enlightenment, and these ideals were carried over into landscape design.  English gardeners threw off the shackles of the autocratic (read “French”) garden aesthetic where every shrubbery and leaf was tortured into obedience.  The English wanted their gardens to be free and wild.  To a certain extent. 

        But, before one enters the garden, one must interact with an architectural element that is so easy to overlook…the garden gate.   




A carved, stone gate attributed to Inigo Jones.

Riordan Mansion Garden Gate, Flagstaff, AZ

Garden Gate at Evelynton Plantation, Charles City, VA

The garden gate is an architectural element that gives a hint.  This first glimpse into any garden, should not only entice, but inform the visitor of what lies ahead..even in a secret garden. 

Celebrating the Built Environment

Welcome to my blog.  I’ll be sharing ideas and essays related to architectural history, specific architectural elements, preservationists and practicioners. I hope readers find the articles interesting, entertaining and informative.  I am passionate about the preservation of our cultural heritage and of the built environment.  I care about preservation not only from an artistic point-of-view, but also as a vital source for sustainability.  Remember…the “Greenest” building is the one that’s already built.  Enjoy!