The multi-phase project involved the renovation of a historic, 100+ year old, four storey, multi-whythe load bearing brick building, which previously served as a residence, into offices and practice rooms for the University’s Music and Fine Arts Faculties.
Significant structural intervention was required to remove floors to create multi-storey open spaces, remove and reinforce exterior wall construction to create tie-in points to a new addition, reinforce existing floor structures to accommodate the new occupancies, and rehabilitation of the roof structure damaged by long-term deterioration.
The project also included a multi-storey concrete and steel framed addition behind and adjacent to the existing building, with multiple connection points to the existing building. Specialized foundation construction and shoring techniques had to be considered and implemented to maintain the integrity of the existing building’s near-surface footing foundations.