Firestone triangle building
PRESERVING A SYMBOL OF AMERICAN INDUSTRIALISM
Elizabeth Murphy is president of Chambers, Murphy & Burge Restoration Architects, Ltd., a firm dedicated solely to preservation and restoration. She is also past chair of the Advisory Group for the American Institute of Architects National Committee on Historic Resources.
She takes restoration seriously.
So when Jamieson Ricca Windows asked Graham Architectural Products to match the windows on Akron’s Firestone Triangle Building for Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits, Graham had to be on top of its game.
“The architect on this is probably the toughest historical architect there is,” said Tim Davis of AR Design, Graham’s rep on the project.
““With steel replication, you can use the Graham solution to match the profiles for the old steel factory sash and you can do it in a very cost-effective way versus the alternatives.””
The intent on the 700 windows was to give the appearance of the old steel factory sash, making Graham’s 6700 Series window a good fit. “The 6700 family of product has a few different versions,” Davis said. “The version that Jamieson Ricca used on the Firestone job is called the concave profile version and it has a profile that is truer to the putty glazed steel factory window than the other version, which just has the straight bevel.
“And that was a key detail – that concave bevel was the exact detail that this historic architect was looking for.”
According to Davis, it was still a tough sell to the architect, but Graham produced a mockup to help her get past her resistance to an aluminum solution. “Once they saw the mockup it was quickly blessed,” said Davis. “They were actually pretty surprised we were able to make the windows look as historic as we did, match the profiles they were looking for, but also have an attractive budget number verse having to put all the steel back in and restoring.”
Gordon Priemer, president of Jamieson Ricca, agreed, saying, “With steel replication, you can use the Graham solution to match the profiles for the old steel factory sash and you can do it in a very cost-effective way versus the alternatives.”
The property, home of the former Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., has three structures, with the 162,000 square foot Triangle Building being erected in 1926 as the Warehouse and Shipping Facility. The Triangle Building now serves as home for Summit County’s departments of Job & Family Services and Environmental Services.