Keast & Hood provided structural engineering for the award-winning renovation of Lincoln Ballroom, one of several phases of interior improvements completed for the historic club.
Union League was founded as a patriotic society in 1862; its National Register-listed brick and brownstone League House building was built in 1865. In 1915, Horace Trumbauer designed the 15th Street annex and renovations to the League House, including the Lincoln Ballroom. An elaborately decorated coffered plaster ceiling was part of Trumbauer’s scheme but was not built.
As part of phased renovations, the Union League recreated the ceiling to match Trumbauer’s historic details. The ballroom ceiling is supported from the fourth floor structure, which is in turn supported by a series of story-height steel trusses. The trusses span 95 feet to achieve an open, column-free ballroom below. Through a century of modifications, an interstitial space also supported by the trusses became a de facto mechanical chase for ductwork and air-handling equipment. Recognizing the added loads may not have been accounted for in the original truss design prompted a careful analysis of the trusses for the new ceiling.
Keast & Hood worked closely with BLTA to perform the analysis, select a ceiling system to meet the new load constraints, and develop options for attaching new ceiling supports to the existing structure using post-installed anchors, Unistrut components, and other structural steel members. The structural analysis and reinforcement enabled installation of a new glass fiber-reinforced gypsum ceiling. Additional components of the renovation included upgraded HVAC and acoustical systems, perimeter chandeliers, and wood and upholstered wall paneling. Eberlein Design Consultants, Ltd. provided interior design.
The project was honored with a 2014 AIA Philadelphia Award for Design Excellence, a 2014 Preservation Achievement Award from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, and a 2014 Preservation Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Construction Project Award.
Keast & Hood provided structural engineering for the award-winning renovation of Lincoln Ballroom, one of several phases of interior improvements completed for the historic club.
Union League was founded as a patriotic society in 1862; its National Register-listed brick and brownstone League House building was built in 1865. In 1915, Horace Trumbauer designed the 15th Street annex and renovations to the League House, including the Lincoln Ballroom. An elaborately decorated coffered plaster ceiling was part of Trumbauer’s scheme but was not built.
As part of phased renovations, the Union League recreated the ceiling to match Trumbauer’s historic details. The ballroom ceiling is supported from the fourth floor structure, which is in turn supported by a series of story-height steel trusses. The trusses span 95 feet to achieve an open, column-free ballroom below. Through a century of modifications, an interstitial space also supported by the trusses became a de facto mechanical chase for ductwork and air-handling equipment. Recognizing the added loads may not have been accounted for in the original truss design prompted a careful analysis of the trusses for the new ceiling.
Keast & Hood worked closely with BLTA to perform the analysis, select a ceiling system to meet the new load constraints, and develop options for attaching new ceiling supports to the existing structure using post-installed anchors, Unistrut components, and other structural steel members. The structural analysis and reinforcement enabled installation of a new glass fiber-reinforced gypsum ceiling. Additional components of the renovation included upgraded HVAC and acoustical systems, perimeter chandeliers, and wood and upholstered wall paneling. Eberlein Design Consultants, Ltd. provided interior design.
The project was honored with a 2014 AIA Philadelphia Award for Design Excellence, a 2014 Preservation Achievement Award from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, and a 2014 Preservation Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Construction Project Award.
CLIENT: Bower Lewis Thrower Architects
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA
TYPE: Cultural, Historic, SERVICES: Renovation, Structural Intervention, MATERIALS: Steel, SUSTAINABILITY: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Completed project photography © Jeffrey Totaro
