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Project: Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, Exterior of the Corcoran Gallery of Art before the institution
500 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC ceased operations as an independent entity.

Design Architects/Programmers/Master Planners/Interior Architects/Restoration
Architects: LEO A DALY
Historic Preservation Architects: Davis Buckley Architects and Planners
Structural Engineers: Robert Silman Associates
MEP Engineers: Mueller Associates
Civil Engineers: Wiles Mensch Corp.
Life Safety/Fire Protection Engineers: GHD
Laser Survey: Meridian 3D
Building Envelope Assessment: WDP & Associates
Computational Fluid Dynamics Studies: Loring Consulting Engineers
Elevator Consultants: VDA
Acoustical Consultants: Cerami & Associates
Specifications Consultants: Marshall & Company Architects
General Contractor: The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.
Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress,
Prints and Photographs Division

One of the biggest challenges of working with a landmarked and humidity control as well as equitable access to two basement
building is how much effort is required to bring it up to code, levels that were previously not universally accessible. The original
but how little of the historic structure can be changed in doing building, though laced with a network of non-functioning or
so. That’s the gist of the assignment handed to the firm of LEO redundant plumbing, still lacked an adequate fire-suppression
A DALY, which was contracted to assess the programmatic system, which the team also addressed. And, of course, masonry
viability of keeping the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design walls designed before the advent of air conditioning were not
within its venerable building, and later won the commission built with the kinds of mechanical cavities and plenum spaces
for the overall renovation. That initial call thus blossomed that contemporary architects take for granted, meaning that the
into a multi-phase modernization of the 1897 Beaux-Arts-style team had to get creative in fitting all of the requisite temperature
building, originally designed by Ernest Flagg, and its 1928 control systems into whatever space was available. This meant
addition, the Clark Wing, which was designed by Charles adding platforms in the courtyard to support air-handling units
Adams Platt. and taking advantage of gaps between interior laylights and
William Wilson Corcoran founded the gallery that outward-facing skylights to run ductwork and the like—in other
bears his name in 1870 in the building now known as the words, performing complex mechanical gymnastics without
Renwick Museum, named after its architect, James Renwick, altering the landmarked interiors.
Jr. The museum’s expansion led to the construction of the “We did an iterative process with computational fluid
newer Flagg building just southwest of the Renwick, with dynamics modeling to model temperature and humidity in
Corcoran endowing the gallery with a gift of $900,000, and an those spaces,” said Tim Duffy, AIA, CSI, LEED AP, who is vice
accompanying school with another $100,000. Leaving aside the president and director of technical services at LEO A DALY.
complex backstory of how the Corcoran School became part of “Then we would add insulation to the exterior walls or we
George Washington University (GWU) and the former Corcoran would change how the HVAC system worked, and go through
Gallery of Art’s collection was absorbed by the National two or three iterations with digital modeling until we had those
Gallery of Art (NGA), suffice it to say that the impetus for the spaces within NGA criteria.”
refresh had less to do with rebranding than simply creating Adding to the complexity of these seemingly simple
accessible and habitable spaces within a heritage building whose additions was the fact that the few extant drawings of the
architectural future, at times, appeared bleak. Following its building were illegible, meaning that the design team had to
acquisition of the Corcoran School, GWU issued a request for start from scratch, or, taking advantage of current technology,
proposals, calling for an increase in classrooms and gallery with a full laser scan of the building translated to a digital
upgrades that would enable the facility to meet the NGA’s model. Yet traditional, low-tech solutions played a role more often
rigorous climate control standards. than expected: “There was a great deal of old-school detective
LEO A DALY’s set of tasks was thus twofold: Starting with work, [such as] taking a knife and poking into plaster to figure
basic mechanical, plumbing, and life-safety measures, the out what’s there,” Duffy said. We have a lot of tools in the bag,
firm would modernize the original building—whose exterior old tools and new tools.”
stone walls were suffering from vapor penetration and a That mixture of old and new is more evident in the parts
lack of overall thermal control—to bring the Corcoran up to of the school that have been added in the renovation, which
current code standards. Next up was bridging the gap between include several classrooms built as self-supporting rooms within
classrooms that were more than a century old and the needs of the original galleries—a byproduct of the Corcoran’s landmark
today’s students. status that ensures any addition must be fully reversible. Where
In the first phase, the team installed mechanical systems phase one saw the firm’s work masterfully concealed, the second
and a code-compliant elevator, allowing proper temperature phase, of converting former gallery spaces into new classrooms,

(RE)DEDICATED TO ART 35