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 10th Avenue and 25th 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.
