At a ceremony held on September 16, the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota announced Folwell Hall, University of Minnesota, as one of the Alliance's choices to receive a 2009 Minnesota Preservation Award for Restoration/Rehabilitation. Originally built in 1907, Folwell Hall is one of the oldest buildings on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, therefore, preserving the building's historical character was as important on this project as rehabilitating it for modern use.
The exterior renovation required a complete historical exterior renovation and rebuilding of the north and west exterior stairs, as well as the addition of a significant amount of new mechanical space within the existing attic. Several brick chimneys were carefully dismantled, then, historically reconstructed as functional exhaust and intake air plenums. Additional structural steel columns were added in the third level corridor walls to transfer the additional loads to existing bearing walls below.
MBJ is currently providing structural engineering services for the second phase of the project, a complete interior renovation that involves the removal of interior bearing walls, creation of new openings and floor infills, removal of several superfluous chimneys not re-supported in the Phase I renovation, installation of new elevators, and creation of an underpinning/retaining wall in the crawl space beneath the building.
The architect for both the exterior renovation and the current interior renovation is Miller Dunwiddie; the contractor is McGough Construction.
Updated 9/24/2009 Back
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