Keast & Hood has completed multiple projects for the Union League of Philadelphia, over several decades, including exterior restoration of both the League House and its annex building.
The Union League was founded as a patriotic society in 1862. The brick and brownstone League House building was designed by architect John Fraser and built in 1865; it appears on the National Register of Historic Places. The Horace Trumbauer-designed annex was added in 1915. Severe degradation of the brownstone staircases and balustrade on the League House, and of the entry stairs on the 15th Street annex, necessitated a comprehensive masonry restoration and structural stabilization project.
Keast & Hood rebuilt the League House’s dual staircases with cast stone to replace deteriorated brownstone treads. The annex building’s limestone portico was temporarily shored and the concrete support structure and vault liner wall restored. At the Sansom Street entrance, a new steel and glass canopy was incorporated. Along Moravian Street, the sidewalk vault was reconstructed by replacing wrought iron support beams and brick arches with modern framing to maintain scaffold loads during the overall façade masonry restoration. The historic top of the tower was replicated and replaced after being removed from the original Broad Street building in the early 20th century.
The work was recognized with a 2008 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Stewardship Award, a 2007 Grand Jury Preservation Achievement Award from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, and a 2007 AIA Philadelphia Honor Award for Preservation.
Keast & Hood has completed multiple projects for the Union League of Philadelphia, over several decades, including exterior restoration of both the League House and its annex building.
The Union League was founded as a patriotic society in 1862. The brick and brownstone League House building was designed by architect John Fraser and built in 1865; it appears on the National Register of Historic Places. The Horace Trumbauer-designed annex was added in 1915. Severe degradation of the brownstone staircases and balustrade on the League House, and of the entry stairs on the 15th Street annex, necessitated a comprehensive masonry restoration and structural stabilization project.
Keast & Hood rebuilt the League House’s dual staircases with cast stone to replace deteriorated brownstone treads. The annex building’s limestone portico was temporarily shored and the concrete support structure and vault liner wall restored. At the Sansom Street entrance, a new steel and glass canopy was incorporated. Along Moravian Street, the sidewalk vault was reconstructed by replacing wrought iron support beams and brick arches with modern framing to maintain scaffold loads during the overall façade masonry restoration. The historic top of the tower was replicated and replaced after being removed from the original Broad Street building in the early 20th century.
The work was recognized with a 2008 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Stewardship Award, a 2007 Grand Jury Preservation Achievement Award from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, and a 2007 AIA Philadelphia Honor Award for Preservation.
CLIENT: DPK&A Architects, LLP (now TranSystems)
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA
TYPE: Cultural, Historic, SERVICES: Façade Assessment, Restoration, Structural Intervention, MATERIALS: Masonry, Wood, SUSTAINABILITY: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Completed project photography © Jeffrey Totaro
