Restoration of the Academy of Music Ballroom included repairs and new framing woven through the historic building fabric.
Philadelphia’s Academy of Music, on the national register of historic places, is the nation’s oldest grand opera house still used for its original function. The cultural center is home to opera, music, ballet, and community events.
For the ballroom renovation, Keast & Hood designed repairs and supplemental framing to re-support historic timber roof trusses. New steel beams were threaded through the roof of the building as supports for original aged trusses. Additional steel framing was engineered to support new decorative chandeliers. The structural engineering effort was part of a comprehensive historic restoration of the 3,600-sf grand ballroom by architect KlingStubbins, which included replicating the original paint scheme and plaster details from archival photographs.
The ballroom restoration was honored with a 2011 AIA Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture in the AIA National Design Awards program, a 2010 Architectural Excellence Citation of Merit from the PA Society of the AIA, and a 2010 Grand Jury Award from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.
Restoration of the Academy of Music Ballroom included repairs and new framing woven through the historic building fabric.
Philadelphia’s Academy of Music, on the national register of historic places, is the nation’s oldest grand opera house still used for its original function. The cultural center is home to opera, music, ballet, and community events.
For the ballroom renovation, Keast & Hood designed repairs and supplemental framing to re-support historic timber roof trusses. New steel beams were threaded through the roof of the building as supports for original aged trusses. Additional steel framing was engineered to support new decorative chandeliers. The structural engineering effort was part of a comprehensive historic restoration of the 3,600-sf grand ballroom by architect KlingStubbins, which included replicating the original paint scheme and plaster details from archival photographs.
The ballroom restoration was honored with a 2011 AIA Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture in the AIA National Design Awards program, a 2010 Architectural Excellence Citation of Merit from the PA Society of the AIA, and a 2010 Grand Jury Award from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.
CLIENT: Philadelphia Orchestra Association
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA
TYPE: Cultural, Historic, SERVICES: Historic Preservation, Renovation, Restoration, Structural Intervention, MATERIALS: Heavy Timber, Steel, SUSTAINABILITY: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Completed project photography © Tom Crane
