The town of Stanardsville, VA plans to renovate an approximately 150-year-old house which had been gifted to the town several years earlier. Previous uses include temporary staff housing for a nearby nursing home. The Town has since identified the need for additional municipal office space, and meeting and conference spaces for official and private use. Two spaces on the main level were designated for meetings and conferences and one space on the lower level was designated for Town administrative office space. The second floor was planned for leased or rented incubator office spaces.
To realize the transformation, the Town selected NSA to assess the condition of the structure and develop plans to facilitate the renovation envisioned by the Town. Since the Town had a concept plan previously developed for the general layout, NSA’s Scope of Work focused on structural soundness, working in conjunction with a structural consultant; code and accessibility compliance issues, and finishes and architectural detailing.
To make the ground level handicap accessible, non-original CMU infill walls below the front porch will be removed to open the space below the porch, creating a terrace, and a code-compliant doorway will be added between the new terrace and the interior hallway of the ground level. To provide code-compliant headroom at the new terrace, existing beams of the front porch will be removed and new beams cut into and flush with the existing floor framing. The terrace will receive a hard surface such as pavers. An accessible route from the parking area to the front terrace entry will be designed by the project’s civil engineer.
The existing exterior stairs leading from grade to the front porch will be replaced by stairs with code-compliant elements such as rise and run, and handrails. To keep with the character of the building, the front stairs will be rebuilt with the handrails and first three treads at the bottom flaring outward.
To make the first floor ADA-accessible, the rear porch, being re-framed (due to structural concerns) and receiving new decking, will be set at an accessible level to the rear door sill; and a new ADA-compliant ramp will provide an accessible route from the parking lot to the rear porch and the first floor. The ramp will be laid out by the civil engineer and detailed by NSA.
ADA-compliant restrooms shown on the concept plans for each floor will be developed by NSA with a shower being added in the ground level facility. NSA will also develop for ADA code-compliance a kitchenette planned for the first floor.
NSA collaborated with the client on a strategy to salvage and reuse original door and window trim. Should the supply of salvaged material fall short, NSA identified appropriate trim profiles to make up the difference. Original flooring on the second floor will be salvaged and reused on the first floor.