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April 2020
Preservation Alliance, Grand Jury Awards

We are excited to announce that multiple Keast & Hood projects have received 2020 Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia Grand Jury Awards!

The First Presbyterian Church at 21st and Walnut Streets is an important landmark in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of Philadelphia. The church recently completed a large masonry restoration project, which was the culmination of a multi-year, multi-phased project including tower roof, and interior repairs. Keast & Hood’s engineers worked closely with the masonry consultant and our client for the project, AOS Architects. Congratulations to the entire project team!

The Furness Burial Cloister at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church is the second Grand Jury Award winning project that we are honored to have been a part of, “St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church was designed by architect and congregant William Strickland and consecrated in 1823. The original site included the church and narrow churchyard on an adjacent lot. In 1878, architect Frank Furness was commissioned to design a transept for additional pews and a new vestry room, to be built over the churchyard. The church yard was completely lost when, ten years later, a three-story parish house by architect George C. Mason Jr. was constructed. A plan recently discovered in the archives showed burial vaults retained in place when the north transept was built. Guided by the plan, these five additional grave markers and vaults were discovered below floor level. The team determined to honor those whose grave markers survived in the transept addition by creating a space for contemplation, visually separate from the nave and altar area, but with a visual/material connection to the hallway that leads to the space. The intent was to take a light hand, stabilizing and interpreting the space rather than restoring existing elements to a “high polish.” The Furness Burial Cloister is a perfect example of the type of projects that Keast & Hood is known for. It required creative problem solving and sensitive design for a historic site for which there really was no existing precedent. We are proud of the project’s outcome and grateful to our client, SBK+ Partners, LLC.

The final 2020 Preservation Achievement Award that the firm was involved in is the Infill Philadelphia Sacred Places / Civic Spaces challenge facilitated by the Community Design Collaborative and Partners for Sacred Places. Keast & Hood worked with Studio 6mm on a plan for Zion Baptist Church and Called to Serve CDC’s historic sites.

Congratulations to all award recipients! We look forward to celebrating with you all in September at the Awards Ceremony.


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