SILVERMAN HALL RENOVATION.
SUNY UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY.

Completed in 1926, Silverman Hall was converted from its original function as an in-patient hospital to an academic facility serving the core departments within the College of Health Professions (CHP). The historic, Georgian-style building underwent a complete interior transformation for the College of Health Professions Departments to co-locate in the building along with faculty offices, student collaboration spaces, and connection to the adjacent building.

The existing structure and interior layout, last renovated in 1984, is not conducive to today’s teaching and medical practices, and program efficiencies and understanding the department projects is of the utmost importance for the successful planning for this renovation.

The design developed the program layout in a way to best accomplish the project goals and create a design that best speaks to the current and future needs of the College of Health Professions and the University. Some of the primary design drivers were: to facilitate physical and identity connection between Silverman Hall / College of Health Professions and SUNY Upstate; to promote interdisciplinary collaboration; that the department is diverse and distinctive; that SUNY Upstate is multi-faceted, community focused, and advancing; and that Silverman Hall is enduring and has a historic legacy.

RENOVATION OF THE FACILITY ALSO REQUIRED MODIFICATIONS TO THE MASS MASONRY ENVELOPE TO SUPPORT NEW, HIGH-EFFICIENCY MECHANICAL SYSTEMS.

With retention of the historic façade an essential component of the project, an interior approach to retrofit of the envelope was required. Employing WUFI, a modeling software which allowed us to analyze the heat and moisture transport through a wall assembly, we explored various combinations of air barriers - with and without insulation (see above). Analysis indicated any additive intervention to the existing wall decreased drying of the assembly and increased risk for damage resulting from freeze-thaw.

CONNECTING NEW THERMALLY BROKEN GLAZING ASSEMBLIES, THE MODELING PROJECTIONS EXCEED REQUIRED EUI TARGETS FOR THE PROJECT.

Harnessing the composition of the existing wall construction, we settled on rehabilitation as a solution. The program necessitated a full gut of the building interior, which provided extensive access to the interior face of the building envelope. This allowed for a full restoration and patching of the interior plaster skin to create a continuous membrane. This intervention is complemented by a full exterior repointing as part of the façade restoration effort to effect a continuous air barrier within the existing wall.

Lessons Learned
Interventions to historic masonry construction can be problematic. While additive interventions from the exterior would bring the walls within the thermal enclosure, allowing them to perform better, this is rarely possible due to requirements to preserve historic characteristics of the façade. Additive interventions such as vapor barriers to the interior can interfere with the ability of the wall to dry, potentially harboring damaging moisture within the masonry. Conversations about the nature of mechanical systems upgrades with the client and consultant team are crucial where no additional vapor control is provided.

Ashley McGraw Architects - SUNY Upstate Silverman Hall

Photography: Halkin | Mason Photography

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