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New Exterior Additions to Historic Buildings (Part B)

By The Old House Web

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This new stair tower addition on the rear elevation of a historic townhouse is compatible in size, scale, and materials. This approach meets the Standards for Rehabilitation. Photo: NPS files.


Connecting a new exterior addition always involves some degree of material loss to an external wall of a historic building and, although this is to be expected, it can be minimized. On the other hand, damage or destruction of significant materials and craftsmanship such as pressed brick, decorative marble, cast stone, terra-cotta, or architectural metal should be avoided, when possible.

Generally speaking, preservation of historic buildings is enhanced by avoiding all but minor changes to primary or "public" elevations. Historically, features that distinguish one building or a row of buildings and can be seen from the streets or sidewalks are most likely to be the significant ones. This can include window patterns, window hoods, or shutters; porticoes, entrances, and doorways; roof shapes, cornices, and decorative moldings; or commercial storefronts with their special detailing, signs, and glazing. Beyond a single building, entire blocks of urban or residential structures are often closely related architecturally by their materials, detailing, form, and alignment. Because significant materials and features should be preserved, not damaged or hidden, the first place to consider constructing a new addition is where such material loss will be minimized. This will frequently be on a secondary side or rear elevation. For both economic and social reasons, secondary elevations were often constructed of "common" material and were less architecturally ornate or detailed.

In constructing the new addition, one way to minimize overall material loss is simply to reduce the size of the new addition in relationship to the historic building. If a new addition will abut the historic building along one elevation or wrap around a side and rear elevation, the integration of historic and new interiors may result in a high degree of loss--exterior walls as well as significant interior spaces and features. Another way to minimize loss is to limit the size and number of openings between old and new.

A particularly successful method to reduce damage is to link the new addition to the historic block by means of a hyphen or connector. In this way, only the connecting passageway penetrates a historic side wall; the new addition can be visually and functionally related while historic materials remain essentially intact and historic exteriors remain uncovered. Although a general recommendation is to construct a new addition on a secondary elevation, there are several exceptions. First, there may simply be no secondary elevation--some important freestanding buildings have significant materials and features on all sides, making any above-ground addition too destructive to be considered. Second, a structure or group of structures together with their setting (for example, in a National Historic Park) may be of such significance in American history that any new addition would not only damage materials and alter the buildings' relationship to each other and the setting, but seriously diminish the public's ability to appreciate a historic event or place. Finally, there are other cases where an existing side or rear elevation was historically intended to be highly visible, is of special cultural importance to the neighborhood, or possesses associative historical value. Then, too, a secondary elevation should be treated as if it were a primary elevation and a new addition should be avoided.

Preserving the Historic Character

The second, equally important, consideration is whether or not the new addition will preserve the resource's historic character. The historic character of each building may differ, but a methodology of establishing it remains the same. Knowing the uses and functions a building has served over time will assist in making what is essentially a physical evaluation. But while written and pictorial documentation can provide a framework for establishing the building's history, the historic character, to a large extent, is embodied in the physical aspects of the historic building itself--its shape, its materials, its features, its craftsmanship, its window arrangements, its colors, its setting, and its interiors. It is only after the historic character has been correctly identified that reasonable decisions about the extent--or limitations--of change can be made.

To meet National Park Service preservation standards, a new addition must be "compatible with the size, scale, color, material, and character" of the building to which it is attached or its particular neighborhood or district. A new addition will always change the size or actual bulk of the historic building. But an addition that bears no relationship to the proportions and massing of the historic building--in other words, one that overpowers the historic form and changes the scale will usually compromise the historic character as well.

The appropriate size for a new addition varies from building to building; it could never be stated in a tidy square or cubic footage ratio, but the historic building's existing proportions, site, and setting can help set some general parameters for enlargement. To some extent, there is a predictable relationship between the size of the historic resource and the degree of change a new addition will impose. For example, in the case of relatively low buildings (small-scale residential or commercial structures) it is difficult, if not impossible, to minimize the impact of adding an entire new floor even if the new addition is set back from the plane of the facade. Alteration of the historic proportions and profile will likely change the building's character. On the other hand, a rooftop addition to an eight story building in a historic district of other tall buildings might not affect the historic character simply because the new work would not be visible from major streets. A number of methods have been used to help predict the effect of a proposed rooftop addition on the historic building and district, including pedestrian sight lines, three-dimensional schematics and computer-assisted design (CAD). Sometimes a rough full-size mock up of a section or bay of the proposed addition can be constructed using temporary material; the mockup can then be photographed and evaluated from critical vantage points.

In the case of freestanding residential structures, the preservation considerations are generally twofold.

  • First, a large addition built out on a highly visible elevation can radically alter the historic form or obscure features such as a decorative cornice or window ornamentation.
  • Second, an addition that fills in a planned void on a highly visible elevation (such as a "U" shaped plan or feature such as a porch) may also alter the historic form and, as a result, change the historic character.

Some historic structures such as government buildings, metropolitan museums, or libraries may be so massive in size that a large-scale addition may not compromise the historic character. Yet similar expansion of smaller buildings would be dramatically out of scale. In summary, where any new addition is proposed, correctly assessing the relationship between actual size and relative scale will be a key to preserving the character of the historic building.

Constructing the new addition on a secondary side or rear elevation--in addition to material preservation--will also address preservation of the historic character. Primarily, such placement will help to preserve the building's historic form and relationship to its site and setting. Historic landscape features, including distinctive grade variations, need to be respected; and any new landscape features such as plants and trees kept at a scale and density that would not interfere with appreciation of the historic resource itself.

In highly developed urban areas, locating a new addition on a less visible side or rear elevation may be impossible simply because there is no available space. In this instance, there may be alternative ways to help preserve the historic character. If a new addition is being connected to the adjacent historic building on a primary elevation, the addition may be set back from the front wall plane so the outer edges defining the historic form are still apparent. In still other cases, some variation in material, detailing, and color may provide the degree of differentiation necessary to avoid changing the essential proportions and character of the historic building.

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