Barba + Wheelock Architects

Architects

Cultural & Civic - Rockefeller Hall, Acadia National Park

Master Planning

Rockefeller Hall, Acadia National Park

Adaptive ReuseHistoric PreservationMaster Planning

Rockefeller Hall, located on the Schoodic Peninsula of Acadia National Park, is one of the Park’s most significant historic buildings.  Built in 1934 as a three-story apartment building for the Navy, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. brought in noted architect, Grovesnor Atterbury to design this French Norman Revival-style exterior over a steel framed structure with a masonry veneer and half-timber facade.

The building remained largely vacant since the Navy returned the property to the National Park Service in 2002.  In 2009, Barba + Wheelock was commissioned to explore and evaluate options to update the facility and introduce a new use as compatibly as possible.  The Schoodic Education and Research Center (SERC) is the primary tenant and advocate for the building and the campus.

The primary use is on-site accommodations for visiting professors, scholars and others who come to the SERC campus.  Additional uses include a Conference Center and Welcome Center for the campus on the first floor.  The lower level will house support spaces for the planned Great Lawn, which will serve summer functions and other outdoor events.

Meeting the program goals while preserving the significant architectural features required many hours of discussions with accessibility and preservation regulators and development of an unusually large number of alternatives. I credit Barba + Wheelock for both persistence and imagination in finally arriving at a solution that met the needs of all parties.

– James Vekasi, Chief of Maintenance, Acadia National Park

B+W prepared drawings and specifications for the exterior restoration work, rehabilitation of interior spaces, life safety and accessibility upgrades.  Other retrofit work includes upgrading building systems and installation of new fire detection and suppression system.  All work was designed in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and reviewed by both the National Park Service’s Cultural Resources division and by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

Rockefeller Hall was funded by a public-private partnership with the construction work completed in Spring 2013.  The construction cost was in the $2 million range and received a Maine Preservation Honor award in 2013.
Cultural & Civic - Rockefeller Hall, Acadia National Park
Adaptive ReuseHistoric PreservationMaster Planning

Mechanics Hall

AdditionsCondition AssessmentHistoric PreservationHistoric Structures ReportMaster Planning

The Maine Charitable Mechanic Association (MCMA) formed in 1815 as a fellowship for Portland’s blacksmiths, coopers, carpenters, draftsmen, architects and more and in 1857 constructed Mechanics’ Hall on Congress Street. The building was designed by T.J. Sparrow, Esq. in the Italianate style with a rusticated granite façade, stores at the street level, a library, classrooms, and a dining hall. The building was used intensively by the City and State during the Civil War, housing soldiers departing and returning from battle. In 1890 a John Calvin Stevens designed ballroom was added as a third level.

Barba + Wheelock was hired by the organization to prepare a Historic Structure Report and master plan funded by a matching grant from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. The purpose of the report is to gather historical information, document existing conditions, and identify appropriate recommendations and costs for full rehabilitation of this highly significant property for the City of Portland and the State of Maine.

For Mechanics’ Hall, their (B+W) engineering and architecture team worked with the Construction Manager to develop a practical approach to replacing and restoring the massive roof and clerestory monitor.

I highly recommend the architects and engineers at Barba + Wheelock as one of the few A/E firms that can guide historic properties, additions, and restorations with such excellence and aplomb.

– Paul Stevens, Trustee and Building Committee Chair

The building is currently not handicap accessible and its second means of egress is an exterior fire escape. The master plan design calls for a new stair/elevator tower addition in the alley to the rear of the building. A new accessible entry is to be added along Casco Street, leading to a new first floor corridor linking the new entry to an elevator lobby, the two first floor stores and to the existing front entry. This design provides an added benefit of connecting to the fourth floor timber framed attic without penetrating the roof of the existing building and allowing for public use of this spectacular space. It also greatly improves egress capacity for assembly use.

The MCMA intends to use the report to spearhead a fundraising effort for the full rehabilitation. Bringing the building up to modern standards will support its mission of providing the creative maker community with a place to gather and exchange ideas and practical knowledge.

Since completion of the HSR, B+W has undertaken numerous projects for Mechanics’ Hall, including:

  • Roof repair and replacement.
  • Stair addition designs – multiple options were explored including off-site steel fabrication to allow for a low cost solution that could be craned in, and then covered with simple covering, averting foundation issues and tight working conditions.
  • Creating ADA access from Casco Street by changing a window opening into a door, and review with Portland Historic Preservation Commission.
  • Code analysis for floor separation between uses, and negotiation with SFM and CEO to increase egress safety while retaining the majority of historic character of the entrance stair hall.
  • Simple kitchen design for potluck and some catering with a review of new openings to the Ballroom with MHPC.
  • National Register reclassification.
- Mechanics Hall
AdditionsCondition AssessmentHistoric PreservationHistoric Structures ReportMaster Planning

Maine Maritime Museum

AdditionsContextual DesignMaster Planning

Because of the highly sensitive preservation needs of the historic Fresnel Lens, the addition is a “black box” theater.  The addition is sited to be embedded in a developed courtyard inside the MMM complex.

The building, in essence, is designed around the exhibit and creates an immersion experience for the public.  While there are many lens displays in various institutions throughout the U.S., this is the first gallery of its type known where the lens is celebrated, interpreted, and set in an exhibit that simulates the visitor experience of standing on the lantern tower deck.  Sound, sights, smells, and tactile references are all part of the design. The curator and architects worked closely together to create this experience with a parabolic screen as a key element of the design.

Not only designed around the exhibit, the addition fits securely within the tight parameters of the existing building and is clad in durable slate siding and copper roofing.

Simply put, if you have imagined what it might be like to experience serene and stormy scenes from atop a lighthouse – all the while basking in the warm glow of a breathtaking Fresnel lens, then the Maine Maritime Museum’s Into the Lantern exhibit is for YOU!

The recreated majesty of Cape Elizabeth’s lantern is literally stunning. This one-of-a-kind experience will astound the visitor with its exquisite beauty, detail and ability to transport admirers back in time when lighthouse keepers kept a vigilant eye seaward as they helped protect the mariner from the perils of the sea. If you desire one lighthouse experience that will prove to be both amazing and memorable, then Into the Lantern is a must-see!
– Bob Trapani, Executive Director, American Lighthouse Foundation

Cultural & Civic - Maine Maritime Museum
AdditionsContextual DesignMaster Planning

Merrill Memorial Library

AdditionsContextual DesignHistoric PreservationMaster Planning

Merrill Memorial Library, originally constructed to A.W. Longfellow, Jr.’s plans in 1904; together with its 1987-88 addition comprise 16,000 sf on three floors. The Yarmouth Historical Society’s move from their long-time location on the third floor, opened up the Library’s options for internal expansion, leading to the need for a master plan involving the entire library. Barba + Wheelock began work with the Trustees and Renovation Committee in 2011, developing a phased master plan, fund raising renderings and cost estimates.

The project includes restoration and rehabilitation of the third floor as meeting space for 50+ people, retaining much of the “time capsule” historical feel and details. Other aspects include code improvements to better meet the Americans with Disability Act and State fire codes. The project has evolved to include a compatible new entry addition, both a welcoming gesture, much needed gathering space, as well as improvement upon safer public and staff access in all weather conditions.

The community has embraced the lecture hall on the third floor as a coveted space for presentations, films and a variety of group meetings. The new entry is another much appreciated feature that provides a casual gathering space, and as a result, contributes to the continued vibrancy in use of an iconic historic building.

The renovation gave the Library a heightened visibility within the community and in turn gave the community an increased sense of ownership. Combined with the deliberate eye to preservation of the 1904 finishes, there is a true feeling of community pride in the building.
–Heidi Grimm, Library Director

The library reopened in Fall 2014 with a project cost of $2.5 Million.

In 2016, both Maine Preservation and Greater Portland Landmarks honored the project with preservation honor awards.
- Merrill Memorial Library
AdditionsContextual DesignHistoric PreservationMaster Planning

Maine Coast Waldorf School

Master PlanningNew Construction

This seemingly modest project encompassed four classrooms, a central gathering place, lockers, and a lower level for crafts and makers’ space. The monumental task of creating a positive, immediate presence on its 17-acre site, planning for the future build-out of a kindergarten through eighth grade campus with auditorium, playing fields, gymnasium, library, and shop facility, and also serves the school’s immediate programmatic requirements within a constrictive budget. Site planning included provisions for all new infrastructure with allowances for complete build-out. Careful consideration was given to a required DEP / NRPA approvals process and Freeport’s Planning Board approvals process.  Barba Architecture worked closely with landscape architects, traffic engineers, the town planner and town engineer, to achieve full compliance.  Wright-Ryan Construction was the Construction Manager and the contractor.

In addition to the nuts and bolts aspects of this project, the school had unique functional and aesthetic requirements, which we continually kept at the fore when making all planning decisions.  Student activities, which include movement, art, music, and storytelling, had to be accommodated in a structure, which allowed for these activities in a light-filled, quiet building that has a sense of containment, yet is not static.  By embodying this particular community’s philosophies and aesthetic we created a building which is both exciting and beautiful.  The school design brought about a creative solution to a complex problem within a restrictive budget.  Design, approvals, and construction were remarkably completed in one year from start to finish.

- Maine Coast Waldorf School
Master PlanningNew Construction