Preserving another part of America’s valuable, small-town history
By Jennifer Gill
Few things could be described as being more American than Harley-Davidson and Coca-Cola. It is quite fitting, then, that these companies would be a large part of York, Pa., history, especially since York often is recognized as the first capital of the United States. Even more fitting is the renovation and historical restoration project of a 1940’s former Coca-Cola Bottling Works building, nearing completion at press time just a few miles from the Harley-Davidson factory. Built in 1942, the masonry on the old bottling plant was covered by a prefabricated metal addition in 1979, and is now being adapted for reuse as a climate-controlled, self-storage facility.
Architect Danika Dallam, RA, vice president of York-based SAA Architects, fondly recalls touring the building as an elementary student. “SAA’s owner, Mark Shermyer, and I both remember when the building was in use as the Coca-Cola Bottling Works,” she said. “Mark has a big background in restoration and adaptive re-use, so we were particularly pleased to be working on this project.” The building’s owner, Ken Snyder, himself a highly skilled mason, was extremely supportive of the masonry restoration effort, bringing aboard two local companies to assist: mason contractor Donald W. Miller, Inc., and masonry color experts Exact Match Masonry Staining.
Dallam recalls many challenges. “Our primary focus for an adaptive reuse design is how well we can make the original structure adapt to the new proposed use. This structure was ideal for self storage!” The original windows, designed to permit natural light for the bottling staff, allowed storage units to be visible from the exterior, which is the current trend with self-storage. Dallam explained, “If we want people staring at what’s going on within the building, we need the area around the windows to be just as beautiful!”
Upon removing metal panels around the façade, Dallam’s team was disappointed to discover large amounts of missing cast stone. “Fortunately, when the building addition was added on, they did not remove the cast stone features on the east side. The coping and finials were removed by a crane and replaced on the façade.” Another victory was counted when the general contractor located the manufacturer of the original cast stone, who still had the molds from the 1940’s to replace the missing pieces. The next challenge came when the pre-cast architectural accents were put in to place and all of the masonry cleaning, restoration and patchwork had been done. Dallam recalls, “The Art Deco façade was restored, but the problem was the glaring difference between the original, weathered precast and the new sections.” Matthew Gill, operations manager for Exact Match Masonry Staining, describes his work on the site. “Aging pre-cast to get an exact match can be tricky, but we took the new precast from 2008 to circa 1940 in two days. Our product carries a 30-year warranty, so the approach we took – as well as the custom colors created onsite – had to be literally perfect, because there was no getting the product back off again once we put it on.”
Gill’s team also visually reduced excess mortar from re-pointed areas with staining techniques, matched brick from various stages of past renovation, and color-corrected other areas of excessively weathered precast that needed to be renewed. “We were the last puzzle piece to the renovation and getting the exact match that Danika and SAA had in mind,” he said. “When there are limitations with matching materials, we remove the limitations so that masons, architects, general contractors and building owners can do their final inspection and find no evidence that a mismatch ever existed. It’s ironic. We do our job so well that no one can spot where we’ve worked!”
Dallam and SAA Architects look forward to the completion of the project; the firm will celebrate the adaptive re-use and preservation of another part of America’s valuable, small-town history.
Jennifer Gill is a freelance writer and marketing director for Exact Match Masonry Staining
|
|
Preserving another part of America’s valuable, small-town history
By Jennifer Gill
Few things could be described as being more American than Harley-Davidson and Coca-Cola. It is quite fitting, then, that these companies would be a large part of York, Pa., history, especially since York often is recognized as the first capital of the United States. Even more fitting is the renovation and historical restoration project of a 1940’s former Coca-Cola Bottling Works building, nearing completion at press time just a few miles from the Harley-Davidson factory. Built in 1942, the masonry on the old bottling plant was covered by a prefabricated metal addition in 1979, and is now being adapted for reuse as a climate-controlled, self-storage facility.
Architect Danika Dallam, RA, vice president of York-based SAA Architects, fondly recalls touring the building as an elementary student. “SAA’s owner, Mark Shermyer, and I both remember when the building was in use as the Coca-Cola Bottling Works,” she said. “Mark has a big background in restoration and adaptive re-use, so we were particularly pleased to be working on this project.” The building’s owner, Ken Snyder, himself a highly skilled mason, was extremely supportive of the masonry restoration effort, bringing aboard two local companies to assist: mason contractor Donald W. Miller, Inc., and masonry color experts Exact Match Masonry Staining.
Dallam recalls many challenges. “Our primary focus for an adaptive reuse design is how well we can make the original structure adapt to the new proposed use. This structure was ideal for self storage!” The original windows, designed to permit natural light for the bottling staff, allowed storage units to be visible from the exterior, which is the current trend with self-storage. Dallam explained, “If we want people staring at what’s going on within the building, we need the area around the windows to be just as beautiful!”
Upon removing metal panels around the façade, Dallam’s team was disappointed to discover large amounts of missing cast stone. “Fortunately, when the building addition was added on, they did not remove the cast stone features on the east side. The coping and finials were removed by a crane and replaced on the façade.” Another victory was counted when the general contractor located the manufacturer of the original cast stone, who still had the molds from the 1940’s to replace the missing pieces. The next challenge came when the pre-cast architectural accents were put in to place and all of the masonry cleaning, restoration and patchwork had been done. Dallam recalls, “The Art Deco façade was restored, but the problem was the glaring difference between the original, weathered precast and the new sections.” Matthew Gill, operations manager for Exact Match Masonry Staining, describes his work on the site. “Aging pre-cast to get an exact match can be tricky, but we took the new precast from 2008 to circa 1940 in two days. Our product carries a 30-year warranty, so the approach we took – as well as the custom colors created onsite – had to be literally perfect, because there was no getting the product back off again once we put it on.”
Gill’s team also visually reduced excess mortar from re-pointed areas with staining techniques, matched brick from various stages of past renovation, and color-corrected other areas of excessively weathered precast that needed to be renewed. “We were the last puzzle piece to the renovation and getting the exact match that Danika and SAA had in mind,” he said. “When there are limitations with matching materials, we remove the limitations so that masons, architects, general contractors and building owners can do their final inspection and find no evidence that a mismatch ever existed. It’s ironic. We do our job so well that no one can spot where we’ve worked!”
Dallam and SAA Architects look forward to the completion of the project; the firm will celebrate the adaptive re-use and preservation of another part of America’s valuable, small-town history.
Jennifer Gill is a freelance writer and marketing director for Exact Match Masonry Staining
|
Preserving another part of America’s valuable, small-town history
By Jennifer Gill
Few things could be described as being more American than Harley-Davidson and Coca-Cola. It is quite fitting, then, that these companies would be a large part of York, Pa., history, especially since York often is recognized as the first capital of the United States. Even more fitting is the renovation and historical restoration project of a 1940’s former Coca-Cola Bottling Works building, nearing completion at press time just a few miles from the Harley-Davidson factory. Built in 1942, the masonry on the old bottling plant was covered by a prefabricated metal addition in 1979, and is now being adapted for reuse as a climate-controlled, self-storage facility.
Architect Danika Dallam, RA, vice president of York-based SAA Architects, fondly recalls touring the building as an elementary student. “SAA’s owner, Mark Shermyer, and I both remember when the building was in use as the Coca-Cola Bottling Works,” she said. “Mark has a big background in restoration and adaptive re-use, so we were particularly pleased to be working on this project.” The building’s owner, Ken Snyder, himself a highly skilled mason, was extremely supportive of the masonry restoration effort, bringing aboard two local companies to assist: mason contractor Donald W. Miller, Inc., and masonry color experts Exact Match Masonry Staining.
Dallam recalls many challenges. “Our primary focus for an adaptive reuse design is how well we can make the original structure adapt to the new proposed use. This structure was ideal for self storage!” The original windows, designed to permit natural light for the bottling staff, allowed storage units to be visible from the exterior, which is the current trend with self-storage. Dallam explained, “If we want people staring at what’s going on within the building, we need the area around the windows to be just as beautiful!”
Upon removing metal panels around the façade, Dallam’s team was disappointed to discover large amounts of missing cast stone. “Fortunately, when the building addition was added on, they did not remove the cast stone features on the east side. The coping and finials were removed by a crane and replaced on the façade.” Another victory was counted when the general contractor located the manufacturer of the original cast stone, who still had the molds from the 1940’s to replace the missing pieces. The next challenge came when the pre-cast architectural accents were put in to place and all of the masonry cleaning, restoration and patchwork had been done. Dallam recalls, “The Art Deco façade was restored, but the problem was the glaring difference between the original, weathered precast and the new sections.” Matthew Gill, operations manager for Exact Match Masonry Staining, describes his work on the site. “Aging pre-cast to get an exact match can be tricky, but we took the new precast from 2008 to circa 1940 in two days. Our product carries a 30-year warranty, so the approach we took – as well as the custom colors created onsite – had to be literally perfect, because there was no getting the product back off again once we put it on.”
Gill’s team also visually reduced excess mortar from re-pointed areas with staining techniques, matched brick from various stages of past renovation, and color-corrected other areas of excessively weathered precast that needed to be renewed. “We were the last puzzle piece to the renovation and getting the exact match that Danika and SAA had in mind,” he said. “When there are limitations with matching materials, we remove the limitations so that masons, architects, general contractors and building owners can do their final inspection and find no evidence that a mismatch ever existed. It’s ironic. We do our job so well that no one can spot where we’ve worked!”
Dallam and SAA Architects look forward to the completion of the project; the firm will celebrate the adaptive re-use and preservation of another part of America’s valuable, small-town history.
Jennifer Gill is a freelance writer and marketing director for Exact Match Masonry Staining
|