National Portrait Gallery Gets a Facelift

Contracting Method Accelerates and Streamlines the $100 Million Rte. 28

By Mary Beth Sammons

Walt Whitman once called the original Old Patent Building "The noblest of Washington buildings." After $216 million transformation, it will keep its title and offer its visitors even more. (Photo by Rolland White)

The $216 million overhaul of the Old Patent Office Building and present-day home of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum has become the centerpiece of Washington D.C.'s downtown revitalization efforts.

The job also has uncovered some of the building's rich history, notably artifacts and other interesting items buried under the quadrangular building's center courtyard and hidden under layers of plaster.

The original renovation plans called for a standard makeover: cleaning of the building's facade and a renewal of its wellworn interior. Midway through the project, however, more ambitious plans were added to the roster, including construction of a new underground 346-seat auditorium with a lobby, conservation lab, art storage area, café and museum store.

"We're digging up some interesting artifacts, things like façade pieces and possible nuggets of historical significance," said Nancy Novak, project manager for Hensel Phelps Construction, which has a district office in Chantilly, Va., and is the project's general contractor. Bovis Lend
Lease is the construction manager for the project. "Our crews are holding their breath and digging with their eyes half closed, knowing that they may be uncovering the remains of the morgue."

In addition to being billed as "the noblest of Washington buildings" by poet Walt Whitman and considered by many as the finest example of Greek Revival architecture in the United States, the 168-year-old, third-oldest federal building has served myriad purposes. It was a
dance hall for Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural; museum home for the original
Declaration of Independence; a showcase for American industrial and agricultural
patents and development; and a temporary barracks, infirmary and morgue for Union soldiers during the Civil War.

The renovated building is scheduled for opening on July 4, 2006, the 170th anniversary of when Andrew Jackson laid down the cornerstone of the building.

Jigsaw Puzzle The interior façade and its layers of plaster are being carefully stripped, a tedious process for construction crews. In the process, workers have uncovered numerous windows hidden during renovations done in the 1960's to protect paintings and other works
from damaging sunlight, Novak said.

Technology-advanced glass that makes it possible to incorporate the windows and lighting into the architectural scheme is being installed. The new glass walls also will allow museumgoers to see behind-the-scenes art conservation work.

It's not easy to "practically strip to the bone" the original structure and at the same time preserve the neoclassical architecture, said Stephen di Girolama, the Patent Office Building's project director.

To "deconstruct and then reconstruct" the building, crews have to remove massive, hard-to-budge stone pieces and number them to make sure they are reinstalled in the proper place,
di Girolamo added.

"It's like creating a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle," he said.

Adversity and the ability to survive against all odds have been part of the building's history. By the 20th Century, it was in bad shape. The building was slated for destruction in the 1950's until it was saved by the Eisenhower administration.

Congress intervened and turned it over to the Smithsonian. The museum turned the building into the art galleries that will once again be open when the present renovation is completed.

Staying on Top A large piece of the job has been constructing the two acres of new copper roof and restoration of the building's four porticos and historic skylights.

Historically, the roof of the building was standing-seam copper over wood sheathing on either wood or metal trusses. The roofs of the south and east wings were described in 1877 as "sheet copper laid on one inch of pine sheathing boards which were supported by pine joists."

The purlins, trusses, sheathing and ceilings were constructed of pine; sheet copper covered the pine sheathing of the roof. A pine grating was placed over the gutters to keep them from becoming clogged with snow and ice, but it was destroyed by several fires.

In 1964, the east-wing roof was entirely rebuilt with nailable precast concrete plank over steel beams.

The new roof is designed to replicate the original. It is made up of standingseam copper with flat-seam copper at low-slope areas and gutters. The copper is applied over a fiberglass slipsheet applied over roofing felt on a plywood substrate, which is secured to stainless steel
"Z" purlins with in-fill insulation.

This entire system is underlain by a self-sealing sheet membrane, which provides vapor barrier and secondary moisture containment.

Concurrently, work is under way on the inside of the building, including restoration of all historic finishes, selective demolition and installation of underground utilities. Security systems are being upgraded and the heating, air conditioning, electrical and plumbing systems are being replaced. Phone and data communications systems are being upgraded.

"The space is extremely tight and so we have many maps to show workers exactly where to install before they install what they need to," di Girolamo said.

Keep it Steady Bilip Parikh, senior mechanical engineer and project manager for URS Corp., Washington D.C., said the temperature in the building needed to stay at 70 degrees year-round, with low humidity and clean air, and water pipes had to be drained to ensure they wouldn't explode or leak and damage artwork.

"This is the most challenging project I have done in 20 years," he added. "All four wings were constructed at different times and we had to treat them like separate buildings - each with their own heating systems - and consolidate them all into one."

Return to List