The Marymount Middle School, a Manhattan-based Catholic educational organization for girls, acquired a beaux-arts building to house its students, ages 5 to 12, and faculty members.
The six-story, early-1900s mansion originally was a private residence. Its wooden structure had deteriorated, and its marble, brick and limestone exterior needed repairs. Many of the interior decorative elements had to be replicated.
The 7,000-square-foot building's location in a Manhattan neighborhood restricted site access and work time. Almost the entire wooden structure was removed and replaced. Workers moved structural steel elements into the site through window openings and up through the building, as there was no space on the street to erect a permanent crane. The building's foundation also was expanded to support the extended kitchen and enlarged multipurpose room.
Because of lack of access to the south facade, the team devised and installed a hanging scaffold system suspended from the roof.
The architect is Platt, Byard, Dovell, White Architects (New York City).
