Medford, MA – The abandoned Dame School on the Tufts University campus presented an architectural dilemma faced by many colleges and universities evaluating their historic buildings on campus: To Repurpose or rebuild?
Completed in 1909, the Dame School was an attractive and familiar fixture in the Tufts community near Boston. But the former elementary school’s interior layout – two floors of classrooms surrounding an enormous auditorium – was unworkable for Tufts’ intended purpose as an office building.
The architecture firm, Goldman Reindorf Architects Inc. in Newton came up with a novel solution regarding renovating or new building- to do both! “Solving challenging problems and coming up with creative design solutions is our forte,” said Mitchell Goldman. They designed a structure that preserved the historic masonry
facade but completely removed the interior – a deeper, more elaborate process than “gutting” – and inserted a newly constructed steel structure, essentially a new building, inside the facade.
Cost is usually the driving factor in deciding whether to renovate or completely tear down and rebuild, but a building’s historic character and quality, and even its past significance to the university or town, enter into the equation. The town of Medford, where Tufts is located, had a great sentimental attachment to the old school and did
not want to sacrifice the character of the existing masonry structure. The building’s future use also influences the ultimate cost and the course of action. It is extremely expensive, for example, to retrofit an historic building into science laboratories and facilities, whereas conversion to classrooms and offices is less complex. The mechanical systems in older buildings are usually obsolete and inadequate for current use, often dictating that a building be razed and rebuilt. And the Dame School was certainly in a state of decay when Tufts acquired it. “The
mechanical systems, said John Roberto, Tufts vice president of operations, “were well past their life expectancy.”
The old building posed many design issues. The old elementary school had two stories of classrooms surrounding a large auditorium and not enough available square footage for Tufts’ use. A large stone staircase, leading from the front entrance up to the main floor, a common design for school buildings of that era,
created poor access to the building’s interior. The structure and deep floor plates of the square building plan made adapting the plans to a modern office layout very difficult. Since the Dame School would be an administration building housing some 185 people, a hybrid plan that incorporated renovation and rebuilding was the best solution to make the old school building functional for contemporary academic and office use. Shawmut Construction undertook construction of the new interior building behind the masonry façade. The firm inserted the new steel structure by shoring up the exterior walls while the old interior was torn out. Floor heights were reset, to allow for
accessible entrances and to provide three stories behind the exterior walls, instead of the original two.
“We worked to keep as much open space in the interior as possible,” said Jim Balmer, of Boston Building Consultants, the structural engineer on the project. Another challenge was bringing light into the interior spaces and creating clear paths for circulating air and light The old interior was dark and gloomy. “The real problem
in these old buildings is getting light into the interior,” said Lisa Reindorf, the design architect. Large new windows were cut into the masonry and all existing windows were replaced. This had to be handled in a way that maintained the building’s original feel and architectural integrity. The new interior, which featured glass walls alongside the perimeters of the building, allowed daylight to pass through the exterior rooms and into the center of each floor.
The dramatic centerpiece of the renovation was a two-story, light-filled atrium. This contemporary space, with windows overhead, was a crucial component of the circulation path through the building. A welcoming internal stairway allowed for easy staff dialogue among departments. The lobby featured a flexible design that would
accommodate different uses, including exhibits, a café and meeting spaces. A plaster frieze from the original building, a replica of the famous frieze from the Parthenon, was incorporated into the lobby.
“We love the new building. It greatly exceeded our expectations,” said Sunny Callahan, Tufts director of planning and administration.
So what about cost? A general rule of thumb is that renovations cost about 75%
of the cost of a brand new building. However, the Dame School renovation
was very complex and extensive. The renovation was estimated at $10.5 million and
new construction at $11 million. Actual construction for the Dame School came in at $9.5 million.
To control costs, GRA used a variety of strategies. Reusing the existing facade and retaining all the masonry walls and stone work reduced costs considerably. This also prevented the disposal of massive amounts of materials into landfills. Early in the process, the architects engineered the building with value in mind in the selection of
mechanical equipment, materials, doors, windows and finishes. Most of the interior spaces were designed with basic materials – expensive materials were reserved for the lobby and main stairway. Future building operating costs were also a consideration. New mechanical systems, insulation, energy-efficient windows, and temperature control will be effective in reducing operation costs. Energy conservation was important to the design,
“We designed the mechanical systems to be as energy efficient as possible,” said Mike Fournier of WSP Flack + Kurtz, the mechanical engineers. Good communication between the university’s facilities department, the architects,
users and builders helped achieve the cost savings. “There was a lot of back and forth discussing various materials and equipment,” said John Emond, the project’s manager for Shawmut Construction. “It helped to have the architects respond and make decisions quickly.” Tufts officials said the renovation met their requirements for a flexible, open office environment, while looking, from the outside, as though the old Dame School was spruced up. At the building’s opening Medford Mayor Michael J. McGlynn simply added, “the neighbors are pleased!”
