Designed by C.B.J.
Snyder, PS 277 in the Bronx was constructed between 1896 and 1897. The facades
and roofs of this historic landmark are leaking extensively, causing the
plaster-made walls and ceilings to deteriorate and, in some cases, collapse.
Unsafe and unsustainable, the NYC School Construction Authority identified the
building as requiring radical intervention to survive. Drawing on the
fundamental sustainable concept of “reduce, reuse, recycle” Nelligan White
proposes removing only the problematic elements of the building –- the face
brick, the terra cotta window surrounds, some of the architectural stonework,
the flashing, and the roofing on the flat portion of the roof – and replacing
these with new durable materials like architectural pre-cast concrete. This
will preserve not only this architectural landmark but also the energy embodied
in the existing construction. All of the new elements will be installed as a
“rain-screen” over a spray-applied air barrier/waterproof membrane with a
narrow cavity drainage plan.
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