Academy of Music for the 21st Century

Following emergency stabilization and repairs to the historic roof structure in 1989, Keast & Hood was engaged for a multi-year project to enhance the building for contemporary needs.

On the National Register of Historic Places, Philadelphia’s Academy of Music is the nation’s oldest grand opera house still used for its original function. The cultural center is home to opera, music, ballet, and community events. Keast & Hood has been involved with repairs and restoration at the building for several decades.

While surveying the existing structure for a proposed new elevator shaftway in 1989, engineers discovered two timber roof trusses that had recently failed. The freshly splintered wood and absence of dust indicated the problem was new and very serious. An emergency stabilization effort began with evacuation of the building – during intermission of an afternoon performance. More than two weeks of round-the-clock design and construction ensued. The work included removing the academy’s seating, constructing shoring towers to support the damaged structure, and repairing fractured trusses with structural steel reinforcements. A second project the following summer repaired a third truss over the stage.

Keast & Hood was then engaged to provide structural design for a major renovation of the 50,000-sf building. The project entailed design and construction of supplemental steel trusses in the auditorium attic to bolster and support the historic timber roof truss system. The existing stagehouse roof was demolished and rebuilt of structural steel and concrete to support modern set loading, infrastructure was modified for mechanical and electrical systems updates, and a mechanized orchestra pit was built. The renovation for the 21st century project was completed in 2002.

The Academy of Music for the 21st Century project earned a 2004 Grand Jury Preservation Achievement Award from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.

Exterior Balcony Restoration:

Our team took on the challenge of restoring and replicating the ornate details of a historic building with high standards, while utilizing an innovative application of glass fiber reinforced concrete and architectural precast concrete. This required a full restoration and rehabilitation of the original balcony including a new cast stone balustrade, supporting brackets below, and a waterproof membrane coating. The details were hidden under layers of paint and repairs that were just waiting to be discovered.

Special features of the concrete included the combination of both architectural precast concrete and glass fiber reinforced concrete on the project, used individually, as well as together. Anchoring, moldings, and mix design were all developed specifically for this job; there were no off the shelf items. Our team worked extensively with a conservator and architect to match the original historic brownstone through mix design analysis and color matching. GFRC was used for the new, replacement brackets highly ornate scroll designs and the nosing for the slab. Our team utilized precast concrete to match the existing balustrades and building quoins.

Project challenges included coordination, schedule constraints, and the need to find a GFRC contractor. Engineering design details were updated to utilize the new GFRC. Problem-solving was a key aspect of this project, as the engineers had to figure out how to get the two materials to work together and integrate while being weather-tight. We also had to develop brand new installation procedures for anchoring the GFRC back to the brownstone anchors.

By combining old and new techniques the balcony was able to be brought back to life featuring it’s original design.