Frank Harmon Unveils Sustainable Addition for Downtown Raleigh Church
Historic Church Gets LEED Building
For an architect, a historic church renovation might sound like a snooze of a commission amongst the more high-profile ongoing projects in town (like a new building for the country’s largest art museum campus or the library for North Carolina State’s technolopolis, Centennial Campus). But when Frank Harmon’s studio turns to such a project here, the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Raleigh, the results are quite impressive.
The church’s campus is a conglomeration of buildings that have accumulated over the last century. With Erin Sterling at the wheel, the studio has devised a scheme to thoughtfully remove pieces of the existing buildings and create a new 24,000 square foot Education Building as the project’s focal point. The existing parking lot, which divides the church like an alleyway, will contain a landscaped link that connects the two sides of the campus. These strategies will unify the church’s parts in order to establish a cohesive whole.
Unlike the majority of companies in the building industry who have recently jumped on the green bandwagon, Harmon has been making thoughtful and sustainable buildings for over 30 years. This particular project, like the forthcoming AIA Headquarters, utilizes many different environmentally responsible techniques.
The newly constructed Education Building will house classrooms, library, coffee barista, archives, common gathering space, atrium space, reception area, bathrooms, offices and a habitable green roof. Various other landscaping improvements are designed for the campus as well. The project embodies LEED principles in its design such as green roof, geothermal wells, rainwater collection, natural ventilation, daylighting and local materials.
-from project design statement
The new building will also bring natural light down through the center of the building, and looks to have shaded eastern and western facades to diffuse direct morning and afternoon sunlight. The street face of the new building will face Salisbury Street between Morgan and Hargett.
The project will be complete in 2012.
All images courtesy of Frank Harmon, Architect.
There is also another sustainably minded ecclesiastical building under construction in town. See the addition to Pullen Memorial Baptist Church by Dixon Weinstein.
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the truth
11/25 11:57 AM
wow. nice design might actually make me want to go to church!
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Matthew Brown
11/25 12:06 PM
This is very sad news. While the new designs have some good qualities, it is a shame to demolish the beautiful historic education building. This fine brick and stone building was built in the 1920s and complements the original sanctuary beautifully.
Evidently also to be demolished is the building next to the 1920s building, which is of little architectural value, but was built only about 20 years ago. I have a hard time calling a building “green” when it involves demolishing and replacing perfectly good buildings. One must consider the environmental cost of demolishing the old building, hauling it to the landfill, mining and fabricating and transporting the new materials, and building the new building. It would be different if it were an insignificant low-rise building to be replaced by a good quality high-rise. But when it is a good low-rise building to be replaced by another low-rise building, it is not “green.”
Here is a brilliant speech on sustainability given a few days ago by Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation:
http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/sustainability/sustainability-preservation-1.htmlIt cites a recent study showing that it takes 35 to 50 years for an energy-efficient new building to recover the carbon expending just in constructing it, not including the demolition and hauling off of the old building.
“The greenest building is one that already exists.” -
Allen
11/27 10:34 AM
The building built 20 years ago, Memorial Hall, is not being torn down. The education building is being replaced because it is literally falling in on itself and is so full of asbestos that it would be prohibitively expensive to replace.
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Emily
12/01 03:23 PM
I’m guessing the person who wrote this blog works at Frank Harmon?
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John
12/04 01:44 AM
Does Frank still have his fake English accent that he brought back to Raleigh in the 80’s?
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Micah
12/04 02:23 AM
He most certainly does, though it has waned a bit in the past decade.
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John
12/07 02:06 AM
After more than 20 years, it’s waned? Say it isn’t so!
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Kim Weiss
12/27 01:35 PM
To Emily: No, the person who wrote the blog does not work at Frank Harmon Architect PA. I should know; I’m his publicist. We hadn’t planned on releasing the story just yet, so this was a (very nice) surprise.
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DebbieSears
04/02 09:52 AM
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John Burns
11/16 05:35 PM
Mr. Brown, please come visit us at First Prez, and we would love to show you around the Education Building. You will soon see why it simply cannot be maintained in its current condition.
The poster above is correct that Memorial Hall will not be torn down.
Moreover, the existing sanctuary and adjacent parlor / sitting room will be restored. The second floor of that building will be reclaimed, and the windows in that space opened up to allow light into the first floor interior spaces.
We haven’t seen all the details, but so far, it looks like a beautifully conceived project.
Again, you’re welcome to visit with us any time.
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