NEWS ARTICLE
December 5, 2008
|
The Trenton Masonic Temple, built in 1927, is perhaps the only “grand” Masonic structure still in use in New Jersey. It is a beautiful and imposing Neo-Classical structure with impressive public rooms on the first floor and three extraordinary meeting rooms on the second. Each room represents a different architectural order: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. The third floor was designed to be three additional meeting rooms, but was never finished. With 25 to 30 foot high ceilings, large exposed concrete columns and beautiful views, this space stood empty for almost eighty years.
Clarke Caton Hintz worked with the Masons to assist with the long term stabilization and renovation of the Temple. CCH prepared two New Jersey Historic Trust Grant applications. The first funded a Preservation Plan for the building; the second provided signifi cant funding for renovations to the building, including masonry restoration, exterior window and door restoration, handicapped accessibility upgrades, etc. As part of this work, CCH became aware of the impressive space on the third floor and realized that this would be ideal for our expanded offices.
The design for Clarke Caton Hintz’s main offices takes advantages of the extraordinary spatial and material qualities of the third floor of the Masonic Temple. The steel trusses supporting the roof are exposed with new skylight openings added. Most of the large, open spaces remain unobstructed, providing the drafting and work areas for the architects, planners and landscape architects. Offices and meeting rooms are located along the perimeter, enclosed with a glass partition system that continues to allow light into the center. The mezzanine is expanded housing the library, additional drafting space and a staff meeting area. The concrete columns remain exposed, along with some of the brick exterior walls, providing a satisfying contrast with the new, modern materials and systems.
The new offices are designed to be LEED –CI (Commercial Interior) Silver Certified. The skylights have been designed to provide daylight for virtually all of the interior spaces; the systems and materials meet all of the LEED requirements for efficiency and sustainability. Making this historic landmark a LEED certified project was a particularly exciting and satisfying effort. A sound, older building that is abandoned, underutilized or demolished is clearly a wasted asset. According to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, about 23 billion BTU’s of energy are embodied in the 14,000 sf. of building space that CCH will occupy in the Masonic Temple (embodied energy refers to the total amount of energy used during the construction of a space, as well as in the shipping and fabrication of the construction materials). This is the equivalent of 185,000 gallons of gasoline. Clarke Caton Hintz’s offices in the Trenton Masonic Temple reflect our commitment to historic preservation, sustainable design and Smart Growth principles.
|
|
|
|
Click here to download a print-ready PDF of this story. |
|
|
