Arup Provides Fire, Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Engineering to Restoration of Judd Foundation's 101 Spring Street in SoHo's Cast Iron Historic District

NEW YORK, June 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Arup, a multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm with a reputation for delivering innovative and sustainable designs, announced today that it has provided fire, mechanical, electrical and plumbing (F/MEP) engineering and code consulting to the Judd Foundation for the restoration of the late artist Donald Judd's home and studio at 101 Spring Street in SoHo's Cast Iron Historic District in New York City. The 8,500 SF building will open to the public in June 2013.

When Donald Judd's New York City building in the SoHo Cast Iron Historic District opens to the public in June 2013 after a three-year restoration, visitors will experience Judd's home and studio as originally installed by the artist. The restoration of 101 Spring Street began on June 3, 2010 (the artist's birthday) and will conclude three years later. Donald Judd lived in the building with his family beginning in 1968, and it was his New York studio until his death in 1994.

Working closely with the local buildings department and the fire department, Arup addressed fire safety concerns while meeting the Judd Foundation's aesthetic and functional goals. Mechanisms to reduce the fire load, detect a fire and smoke event quickly, and then exhaust the smoke to prevent it interfering with egress were installed during the restoration. The equipment is connected to new electrical systems that include emergency generators, egress signage and emergency lighting.

This was a challenging project due to large tracts of single glazing glass and thermally inefficient historic cast iron facade.  Arup's creative mechanical, electrical and plumbing design proposed thermal insulation and vapor barriers to the restored facade behind the finishes, and replaced the single glazing with a double glazed unit of restoration glass and a high-performance thermal pane. This allowed the new mechanical systems, including chillers, boilers, air handling units, and hidden fan coil units, to provide controlled temperature and humidity to protect exhibits. 

The building has been restored with the dual goals of minimal impact to the original structure and maintaining the aesthetic of the Judd space and preserving the art within. Its dramatic, light-filled spaces, featuring a higher ratio of glass to facade than other buildings of its era, are examples of the strength and ingenuity of cast-iron construction in 1870 when 101 Spring Street was erected.

Donald Judd installed each floor with pieces from his collection of more than 500 objects, including artworks by Jean Arp, Carl Andre, Larry Bell, John Chamberlain, Marcel Duchamp, Dan Flavin, David Novros, Claes Oldenburg, Ad Reinhardt, Lucas Samaras, Kurt Schwitters and Frank Stella and furniture by Alvar Aalto, Michael Thonet, Gerrit Rietveld, and Donald Judd, among others.

The project team on the restoration of 101 Spring Street included:

• Project Architect: Architecture Research Office (ARO)
• Exterior Restoration Architect: Walter B. Melvin Architects
• Structural Engineer: Robert Silman & Associates
• Construction Manager: F.J. Sciame Construction Co., Inc.
• Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Fire Protection Engineers: Arup
• Owner's Representative: Levien & Company
• Art Conservation: Art Conservation Services
• Legal Counsel: Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

About Arup 
Arup is the creative force at the heart of many of the world's most prominent projects in the built environment and across industry. Its engineers and consultants deliver innovative projects across the world. Arup opened its first US office 25 years ago, and now employs 1,000 in the Americas. The firm was founded in 1946 with an enduring set of values that fosters a distinctive culture, intellectual independence and collaborative approach. The people at Arup are driven to find a better way to deliver better solutions for their clients. (www.arup.com)

SOURCE Arup