The design team worked to ensure that, in addition to accomplishing aesthetic and programmatic goals, the reintroduction of elements, like the courtyard, supported the restoration and preservation of the building’s architectural significance. The residents of Worcester all know the Voke, whether they attended the school themselves, know someone who did, or drove past it countless times travelling to and from the ’Pike. It would not be enough to adapt the building for residential use. The completed Voke Lofts project would have to help restore some measure of pride to the community.
Restoring Pride
With the gymnasium extracted, the plan offered a courtyard entrance to the structure, walkways, views of green space and ample natural daylighting (vital to any residential project) to all floors, including the first. The site of the demolished welding shop provided a new spot for a small parking area. But the additions had created other challenges. Most notably, the masonry on all three courtyard-facing facades were badly damaged and stained by construction and facility operation associated with the gymnasium addition.
Restoring the masonry exterior would be extremely important to preserving the historic structure’s iconic industrial appearance. Particularly noteworthy of the façade are the horizontal cast stone belt courses on the building’s Grove Street frontage, linking the three sections of the school structure. The team restored the belt courses to appear brighter and more welcoming, as they may have appeared when the school was first completed. Ornamental masonry panels were likewise restored. One of these, a concrete entablature within the brick and cast stone parapet, reading “WORCESTER BOYS TRADE SCHOOL”, required special effort for preservation.
In addition to the cleaning, rebuilding and tuckwork necessary to restore the brickwork that had long ago become stained and discolored, certain pieces of the masonry had to be replicated rather than preserved. The existing brick parapets on the 1912 addition were found to be structurally unsound, and the team discovered rusting lintels behind the original brick of the 1926 addition. These could not be saved and had to be rebuilt.
For the Voke’s windows, preservation was not possible but historical accuracy remained a priority. Happily, the design team’s experience opened the door to a first-rate solution: historic replica frames. All 312 of the building’s window openings received replicated fenestration that matched the original historic look, augmenting the Voke’s architectural beauty and iconic weight. The architects worked closely with the Worcester Historical Commission and National Park Service on this process, creating steel and aluminum frame mock-ups, conducting trial installations and ultimately delivering the replicas to exacting specifications.
The large, arched windows that were once a part of the 2-story school auditorium space were particularly challenging for replication. The size and radius of the arches are not standard for the local manufacturer, so bespoke production was required. The design team also had to coordinate the mullion locations in a way that would mask the new floor structure being constructed behind the window. From the outside, the windows still dictate the large 2-story auditorium space while inside the added floor allowed the team to program duplex units.
The team was also able to specify the fenestration to support the project’s energy-efficiency and sustainability goals. The glazing delivers saturating daylight while reducing solar heat gain and UV penetration, and the replica frames minimize thermal bridging and air infiltration better than the original windows.
Unique Challenges
The unique nature of this particular school building presented challenges that the designers rarely encountered in conversions of mills and factories. For instance, the Worcester Historic Commission required that a solution for the interior redesign respect the original large school corridors to preserve the school-building atmosphere, eliminating valuable square footage from use in rental units and creating challenges for the layouts. Another example: Student trade shops could not be converted in the same way typical classrooms might, and the nature of the vocational school meant that there were few “typical” classrooms.
Perhaps most challenging for the interior, the Voke presented differing structural beam and column material, to say nothing of the layout, in each of the three building sections. The 1909 building was heavy timber; the 1912 addition presented a mixture of wood and steel columns and beams; and the 1926 addition is all steel. Each section required its own specific detailing and approach to layout dictated by its column spacing. The wood decking and brick exterior walls were the only constant.