The historic Hotel John Marshall in Richmond, Va., was designed in 1928 by local architect Marcellus Wright and opened October 30, 1929, the day after the stock market crash that signaled the start of the Great Depression. Despite the bankruptcy that soon followed, the hotel managed to survive for another six decades, until it closed in 1988.
In 2007 Virginia Atlantic Development and Dominion Realty Partners formed John Marshall Building LLC to redevelop the vacant property. Starting in April 2010, the Building Team of Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio, Stanley D. Lindsey & Associates, Leppard Johnson & Associates, and Choate Interior Construction restored the 16-story, 310,537-sf building into the Residences at the John Marshall, a new mixed-use facility offering apartments, street-level retail, a catering kitchen, and two restored ballrooms.
Special attention was given to restoring the building’s historical elements. In the grand Virginia Room, three of the original ballroom chandeliers, weighing 600 pounds each, underwent two years of intensive restoration, including hand polishing and restringing 18,000 individual crystal beads.
PROJECT SUMMARY
RESIDENCES AT THE JOHN MARSHALL
Richmond, Va.Building Team
Submitting firm: Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio (architect)
Owner/developer: Dominion Realty Partners
Structural engineer: Stanley D. Lindsey & Associates
MEP engineer: Leppard Johnson & Associates
General contractor: Choate Interior ConstructionGeneral Information
Size: 310,537 gsf
Construction cost: $39 million
Construction period: April 2010 to June 2012
Delivery method: Cost-plus
The Building Team worked with specialty exterior restoration engineer Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates and the local historic society to restore the limestone façade, the supports of which had deteriorated over the years. Every limestone panel was reanchored with stainless steel fittings bolted into the building and then patched. Terra cotta details at the top of the building were also restored, or in some cases recreated with glass-fiber-reinforced concrete to match the original. “The restoration of the façade was notable, when you consider they had to reattach every piece,” said Reconstruction Awards Judge Daniel Moser, SE, PE.
For its sustainability efforts, the Residences at John Marshall earned three out of four Green Globes through the Green Building Initiative.
The Hotel John Marshall reopened this past summer with 77% of its commercial space leased and more than 85 events booked prior to occupancy. As of early August, 202 of the 238 apartments were leased. “That’s a very good real estate story,” said Judge Martha Bell, FAIA. +
Related Stories
| Jun 18, 2014
Architecture Billings Index shows increase in design activity
The American Institute of Architects reported that the May ABI score was 52.6, up sharply from a mark of 49.6 in April. This score reflects an increase in design activity.
| Jun 17, 2014
Must see: If music were architecture in 27 illustrations
From Miles Davis to Björk to Manu Chao to Bach, Babina visualizes how these sounds will look like if they were visible in the form of architecture.
| Jun 17, 2014
Nation's largest Thai Buddhist temple opens near Boston
The $60 million facility built in honor of King Rama IX of Thailand is the largest Thai Buddhist temple outside of Thailand.
| Jun 17, 2014
U.S. Census report examines why Americans move
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 35.9 million people moved between 2012 and 2013, meaning that 11.7% of the U.S. population moved in one year. The report seeks to examine why.
| Jun 17, 2014
World's tallest pair of towers to serve as 'environmental catalyst' for China
The Phoenix Towers are expected to reach 1 km, the same height as Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill's Kingdom Tower, but would set a record for multiple towers in one development.
| Jun 16, 2014
6 U.S. cities at the forefront of innovation districts
A new Brookings Institution study records the emergence of “competitive places that are also cool spaces.”
| Jun 13, 2014
Gilbane Building Company names new president and chief operating officer
Gilbane Building company hires new president and COO
| Jun 13, 2014
First look: BIG's spiraling museum for watchmaker Audemars Piguet
The glass-and-steel pavilion's spiral structure acts as a storytelling device for the company's history.
| Jun 13, 2014
Grocery stores, restaurants make neighborhoods most desirable [infographic]
John Burns Real Estate Consulting ranks the top 25 housing amenities by generation, based on feedback from more than 20,000 home shoppers.
| Jun 12, 2014
Zaha Hadid's 'gravity defying' Issam Fares Institute opens in Beirut
The design builds upon the institute’s mission as a catalyst and connector between AUB, researchers and the global community.