Professional Circle Breakfast
On Tuesday, April 28 we were pleased to host Professional Circle members to another breakfast meeting. Over eighteen members attended the talk which was led by Richard Pieper, Michael Devonshire, and Deirdre Sullivan of Jan Hird Pokorny Associates Inc. Their presentation was on the restoration of the Battery Maritime Building, highlighting the extensive metal work throughout the building. Participants heard about this project and then discussed their own experiences.
In 2007 Jan Hird Pokorny Associates Inc. completed a comprehensive restoration of the Battery Maritime Building in Lower Manhattan. Designed by the firm Walker and Morris in a Beaux-Arts style, the landmarked Battery Maritime Building was completed in 1909. It possesses an intriguing composition of architectural metals, including cast iron, rolled steel, and stamped zinc and copper. The under-utilized ferry terminal had suffered severe deterioration due to a lack of maintenance and loss of significant architectural features during a 1957 alteration and addition.
Initially charged with preparing a comprehensive Exterior and Structural Conditions Survey, JHPA was subsequently hired by the New York Economic Development Corporation to complete a full restoration of the building’s exterior envelope, including the roof. JHPA directed a team of consultants dealing with a wide scope of issues, from structural reconstruction, cast iron and sheet metal replication, underwater structural investigation, to complete disassembly and reassembly of the building’s complex facades.
