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By John Leeke, Historic HomeWorks
When the Maine College of Art began
renovating the Porteous Building in Portland, ME, the
historic wood windows had fallen into a state of disrepair
and internal renovations had blocked natural light from
penetrating the building. After briefly considering
replacement windows, the decision was made to restore the
original windows, while also renovating the interior to
allow light into the building. The end result not only
brought back an historic building, but also enhanced the
main street of Portland’s central shopping district.
The historic five-story Porteous Building in Portland, ME, features Chicago-style windows on the second through fourth floors. The fifth story above the cornice forms a fully developed “attic” with a row of arch-topped double-hung windows. When the Maine College of Art began restoring the building, it decided to rehabilitate the historic windows. Photos: John Bald
Built in 1904-06 as a department store,
the Porteous Building rises five stories above Congress
Street in Portland. The front façade is richly decorated
with terra cotta and wood in the Renaissance Revival style.
The Chicago-style windows on the second through fourth
floors are flanked by Classical pilasters. The fifth story
above the cornice forms a fully developed “attic” with a row
of arch-topped double-hung windows.
The original function of this wall of
windows was to capture light and feed it deep into the
building to illuminate the goods for sale. This was a time
when natural light was considered more beneficial than the
rudimentary electrical lighting of the day. The department
store kept up with new merchandizing methods as they
developed throughout the 20th century, making use of
improving artificial lighting and controlling the customers’
shopping experience. Several interior renovations eventually
led to building partition walls just a few feet inside the
front façade, excluding all natural light.
The Maine Historic Preservation
Commission had identified the front façade and its windows
as making a significant contributing to the character of the
building. The façade is built of terra cotta, wood and
glass. This principle historic feature had remained largely
unchanged over the decades.
Project Development
In 1993 the Maine College of Art began
adapting the building to the new use of arts education. The
project started with planning for interior renovations.
Often the planning and implementation of these projects is
spread out over several years into phases as funding becomes
available and as the program for building use develops.
Working together, the college, the architect and the
commission developed a separate phase of work with a strong
historic preservation philosophy to save the architectural
character of the front façade. The window work was done in
1998 as part of the façade project.
Natural light is of paramount
importance in the visual arts. Since these windows were
originally designed and built to maximize natural light,
bringing that function back was a matter of peeling back the
later renovations. The interior partitions were removed so
natural light could once again fill the interior spaces. The
existing windows had been largely ignored over the last half
century, which was both good and bad. Good because all the
original parts and systems were still there; bad because
they were mostly inoperable. The one type of maintenance
they had received was painting – many, many coats of paint –
that had sealed most of the windows shut and was now failing
and peeling away.
“Daylighting was also critical to the
success of meeting energy-efficiency design requirements,”
says Richard Renner, AIA, project architect, of Richard
Benner Architects in Portland. “We could have replaced these
windows with modern units that would have saved heating
dollars, but the façade just would not have had anywhere
near the character as with the original windows.” Keeping
the ongoing cost of building operations as low as possible
was important to the college and saving the original windows
leads to that goal, by saving on the cost of electrical
lighting. “Once we had arrived at the decision to save the
old windows, we needed an expert opinion on the validity of
doing that in general, and then in particular, how to do
it,” says Renner.
My work as the project’s historic
window specialist was to assess conditions, suggest methods
for refurbishing the windows and then help determine if that
fit into the overall scheme of the project. Then I wrote
detailed specifications for the window work, which the
architects folded into their overall project manual.
Assessing Conditions
I followed my standard practice of
first determining what we had to work with before even
thinking about what specific treatments should be used, and
giving each window individual consideration. I began with a
quick survey of all windows to determine the types of
windows and general conditions. This helped me focus my
detailed comprehensive assessment, which included an
inspection of every one of the 105 windows in the façade.
The strategy that each window should be given separate
consideration and individualized treatment has the most
effect on project costs and success. Here is my assessment
procedure:
-
Determine the windows’ construction
type, details and materials.
-
Survey the condition of all the
windows considering each window separately.
-
Identify the types of
deterioration, their location and extent.
-
Determine the causes of
deterioration, which are usually related
to moisture and movement.
-
Prioritize the windows into three
groups according to their condition:
poor, high priority; fair, medium priority; good, low
priority.
The central lights of the Chicago-style
windows are filled with thick plate glass and flanked with
casement sash that operate on vertical pivot hinges. Transom
lights above are filled with “Luxfer” prism glass in zinc
and lead cames. These ribbed panes are designed to bend the
exterior light as it passes through the window and send the
light deep within the interior space. The fifth floor
arch-topped windows are double hung on chains and weights.
Many of the sash were painted shut and
most of the sash chains were painted stiff. There was
extensive paint and putty failure on the woodwork, with some
limited broken and missing glass. Of course, the heavy paint
buildup contained lead, which presented heath risks. But the
woodwork of the windows was generally in good condition
under all the paint. There were a few places where the
windows had be cut for installation of exterior lighting,
flag poles, etc., and many very localized deteriorations
such as pockets of decay and split wood near pivot hinges.
Planning
Once I knew the windows and their
condition I selected an approach that would contribute to
the overall project objectives. These included: preserving
the architectural character; providing effective lighting
for art studio and library study needs; contributing to
energy efficiency and long service life with effective
maintenance options.
I considered complete replacement (but
not for long), and spot repairs and maintenance (which would
have a relative short maintenance cycle), and a few other
approaches. It appeared all the windows would respond well
to a round of complete refurbishing.
The general procedure to refurbish
windows includes:
-
Removing most of the heavy paint
buildup in place using lead-safe methods
-
Removing sashes from frames and
installing temporary weather panels
-
Moving sashes to on-site or remote
workshop
-
Detailed cleanup of frame and sill
-
Repairing sills, paint sills and
frames
-
De-glazing (remove glass) sash,
removing paint and cleanup
-
Milling out stock for replacement
sash parts
-
Cutting and fitting stock for each
sash repair
-
Repairing wood of sashes
-
Re-glazing and painting sashes
-
Moving sashes back to site and
distributing to window locations
-
Re-installing sashes in frame with
weatherstripping and tuning up for proper operation
Then I turned to developing the
specific treatments and repairs and to writing
specifications for the work. I know that it is standard
practice for architects to “stand at arm’s length” from the
work and simply specify products and not get involved in
“means and methods.” Simply saying “install these products”
may work for building construction in general, but it is no
assurance of quality and success in window preservation
work. Practically all of the success in window work comes
from the knowledge and skill of the workers, their methods,
procedures and the even nuances of each individual’s
techniques. How can this be controlled to assure quality?
One way is by sampling the work during a separate testing
and development phase, and then making the sample a formal
part of the specification. Another is through the selection
of a contractor with qualified workers.
We wanted this window work to be done
by knowledgeable tradespeople and contractors. One
requirement commonly included in specifications is that the
contractor has at least five years experience and can
provide contacts for at least three similar projects. I like
to go beyond that to consider how many windows and how many
projects they have done. From my own past experience as a
tradesman I know that if I have done something once it only
proves it can be done and the results will be unpredictable
at best. If I have done it 10 times I know the procedure and
have experienced a few, but not all, possible results. When
I have done it 100 times the immediate outcome is under my
control. After 1,000 times the long-term outcome is under my
control. I call this “The Orders of Experience.” So, when
assessing the abilities of tradespeople and contractors I
ask simple questions: How many pieces of wood have you cut
to size? How many sashes have you glazed? How many projects
have you done? With these answers I am better able to
predict the outcome of their work.
Implementation
The project implementation was on a
fast track. All of the local and statewide historic window
specialists with this “order of experience” were booked
months ahead and not available, which did not bode well for
the project’s completion schedule. The contractor did have
carpentry and painting crews available. Clearly there were
some on the crews with strong woodworking and painting
skills, though none with historic window experience.
There were enough workers willing to
learn something new that we set up a training component in
the project. The window specifications not only listed the
products, but I also rewrote sections with detailed
procedures and this became their training manual. I gave the
workers formal training in the special methods needed, such
as wood-epoxy repairs, and they picked right up on it. After
training I worked along with them for the first week or two,
so they could see the rhythm of the work and step up their
productivity. With this formal training and its repeated
practice, I was able to bump the workers “order of
experience” up to a level acceptable for this project.
Effective methods and proven procedures are experienced by
the workers with this sort of training so they actually take
them to heart and develop their own effective techniques. By
mind, hand and heart they learn the art.
The tradespeople, contractor, architect
and owner were able to follow through and complete all the
window work. Paul Attardo of Portland, ME, was the project
manager.
The immediate outcome if the work was
excellent. All the windows looked good and operated
correctly. But the real story is always learned in the
long-term performance. After eight years I have returned to
the Maine College of Art to examine the windows and
determine how they have held up under the severe Maine
coastal weather and demanding institutional use.
My first step was to interview the
facilities manager, Doug Doring. “There have been no
problems with the windows, whatsoever,” he said. Amazing! I
examined the windows myself and found some evidence of
active use, a little wear and tear, but all the sashes were
square, the paint and putty were holding out the rain. Every
window I tried opened and closed with ease. I did find one
3-in. stop-block – which keeps the sash from opening too
high – was split. Not too shabby – small damage out of 105
windows. I also interviewed a few art students who were
happy to have the natural light.
I asked Richard Renner what were the
two things that have lead most directly to this success. He
replied, “The intrinsic quality of the windows and that the
work of their restoration was done so carefully to begin
with.” He offers this advice to fellow architects and
building owners: “Don’t have the reflex action to simply
specify new windows. New windows would have radically
altered the appearance of this building. If you’re willing
to balance energy efficiency with the essential character of
the building it’s worth taking a close look at maximizing
the performance of what’s there rather than tearing the
windows out.”
John Leeke has been restoring
historic windows since 1971 and advising on window
preservation projects since 1985, most notably at Carnegie
Hall, NYC; Jefferson Building, Library of Congress,
Washington, DC; Philadelphia City Hall; and at many other
state and local sites. John shares his window knowledge in
his Save Your Wood Windows publication, and will give
a day-long window workshop at the Traditional Building
Conference in Boston, March 7-10, 2007. He can be reached at
207-773-2306,
www.HistoricHomeWorks.com.
This accompanying Supplier List was compiled from recent issues of TRADITIONAL BUILDING
magazine. Each issue contains 15 or more such reports covering
products and services used in restoration,
renovation, and historically inspired new construction. If you would
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