The Frick Collection: Renewal and Transformation

Join us in New York for an in-person seminar and networking with industry colleagues.
The Frick Collection is a world-renowned museum and cultural resource, and designated landmark. Originally designed by Carrère and Hastings in 1914 and converted to a museum by John Russell Pope in 1935, the Gilded Age residence houses Henry Clay Frick’s unparalleled collection of Old Masters, nineteenth-century paintings, and archival documents. In the decades since its last expansion, the museum’s collection has grown significantly while lacking space for special exhibitions and conservation. In 2017, the museum retained Selldorf Architects and Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, LLP to design an expansion and renovation of these historic buildings. The expansion includes several overbuild projects to create space for special exhibition galleries, a conservation lab, a new museum shop, and a green roof terrace. A nine-story addition to the Frick Art Research Library adds space for their archival collection and a book-and-paper conservation center, while a new below-ground auditorium establishes a venue for concerts and lections. Lastly, the restoration of the second floor of the original mansion opens the historic upper rooms to the public.
In this presentation, we will give an overview of this eight-year project, on which SGH served as the structural engineer of record. We will share how SGH documented existing buildings and addressed unforeseen field conditions, re-directed load paths, strengthened and repaired the existing structure, removed and replaced lateral-load-resisting systems, and integrated old and new portions of the project.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After attending, participants will be able to:
- Recognize strategies to strengthen archaic structural systems.
- Understand lateral load paths in existing buildings.
- Discuss integration of new construction with existing conditions.
- Understand the complexities of structural support for historic architecture.
Participants will earn 1.0 AIA CES Learning Unit (LU/HSW) for attending the seminar. Registration is free. Please note that space is limited – email events@sgh.com to join our waitlist if the session is closed when you register.