his historic and classically built beaux arts office building was originally built in the 1920s. Under the new design of Cesar Pelli this building’s entire structure and core was demolished. The original facades of ornamental limestone and terra cotta were saved. Rugo Stone carefully dismantled, cataloged, stored off site, restored, and then re-erected. The major challenge of this project involved working with no open adjacent space. The foot print of the new building was built to the sidewalk and to a small rear alley which had to remain open for the duration of the project. This required a custom mast climber scaffold design, and a just in time delivery system for the re-installation. Rugo’s team of highly skilled stone masons also carved replacement pieces for various classic cornices and veneer panels, along with performing all the facade re-pointing and cleaning. Cleaning as done with low pressure warm water and various detergents, stubborn stains were removed with poutices. A new classic limestone entry was fabricated for the 17th street entrance. The interior scope included a new elegant marble floor, limestone walls, and lobby desk. A great deal of pride and coordination was applied to this landmark building in the heart of Washington, DC.
Location: Washington, DC
Completion: 2003
Owner: The Kaempfer Company
Architect: Cesar Pelli & Associates
General Contractor: Clark Construction
Size: 60,000 sqft
Services: Provide scaffold access to catalog, dismantle, restore, re-erect limestone and terra cotta façade
