Cambridge, MA
Foundry
Scope/Solutions
After obtaining the Foundry in 2009, the City of Cambridge sought community input on the best use for the property and found strong support for the arts. The city undertook a project to repurpose the 1890 building as a community center focusing on art, science, technology, engineering, and math. The Foundry offers programs and provides leasable workspaces for creators. SGH served as the structural engineer of record and consulted on the building enclosure.
SGH collaborated with the design team for the adaptive reuse of the existing building and construction of a new addition. Highlights of our work include:
- Evaluating the condition of historic heavy timber roof trusses and roof decking and designing strengthening where needed
- Assisting the general contractor with the design of temporary bracing for masonry walls after preexisting interior floors were removed and during excavations adjacent to stone masonry foundation walls
- Designing the following structural elements:
- Foundations to minimize disturbance of contaminated soils
- Steel-framed floors within the historic brick masonry structure and a new steel-framed addition
- A new steel lateral system to resist wind and seismic loads on both the existing structure and the addition, while limiting damage to the historic masonry
- Steel-framed monumental stair connecting the ground level to second-level spaces
- Assessing the condition of the existing building enclosure
- Consulting on repairs to brick masonry walls, windows, flashing, and roofing
- Conducting site visits, and helping address building enclosure questions and issues during construction
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Project Summary
2022
Completion Date
38M
Construction Value
50K
Project Size
Solutions
New Construction | Repair & Rehabilitation
Services
Building Enclosures | Structures
Markets
Culture & Entertainment | Industrial
Client(s)
Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc.
Specialized Capabilities
Building Design | Repair & Strengthening | Condition Assessments | Preservation
Key team members
Additional Projects
Northeast
Glass II at Milan Design Week 2017
In 2017, The Mediated Matter Group at MIT Media Lab created Glass II for the Lexus YET Show to showcase evolving glass technologies. SGH consulted on the sculpture’s materials and structural design.
Northeast
Lincoln Public Library
The library suffered from continued leakage through the flat roof of the new addition and the original building gable copings, slate roofs, and metal flashings. SGH conducted a building condition assessment and investigated leakage.