Moravian Preservation Master Plan.indb - Society for College and ...

Moravian College • Preservation Master Plan
Chapter Nine
Treatment Guidelines for Buildings
9.0 Introduction
The Treatment Guidelines for Buildings should be
used in conjunction with the existing conditions
analysis and treatment recommendations for
Moravian College’s historic buildings included in
Chapter 8 of this Preservation Master Plan. While
Chapter 8 identifies the materials, issues, and
conditions associated with individual buildings at
Moravian College, this chapter provides specific
guidelines for the treatment of the various materials
and features common to Moravian College’s
buildings.
The purpose of this chapter is to provide overarching
preservation guidance and best-practice
approaches for exterior building envelopes. General
recommendations for historic interiors are also
included. The architectural treatment guidelines
contained in this chapter were developed based
upon the issues observed in buildings surveyed and
JMA’s previous experience working with historic
buildings. The guidelines are a tool that will assist
facility decision-makers in appropriate ways to
manage, maintain, and treat historic buildings.
The guidelines are generally organized according
to the broad divisions used by the construction
industry for organizing construction specifications.
The broad divisions are broken down by building
element, such as site work, masonry, exterior
woodwork, roofing, windows, and doors, etc. Each
section contains a brief description of the material
and its use in the buildings on the Moravian
College campus. A summary of typical conditions,
checklist for inspections, overview of the causes
of deterioration, and guidance for repair and
replacement then follow for each building material
or element.
Applying the Secretary of the
Interior’s Standards
The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the
Treatment of Historic Properties and specifically
the Standards for Rehabilitation are discussed in
Chapter 4 – Stewardship. The Standards provide a
strong but flexible philosophical foundation with a
set of basic preservation approaches and principles
for the preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and
reconstruction of historic buildings. The Standards
are not rules, nor do they provide universal answers
for every situation, since each building presents
unique issues and opportunities.
The recommendations in this chapter are based
on the Standards and emphasize the following
approaches that should be incorporated into efforts
associated with historic building stewardship.
• Repair: Conduct regular inspections and
replace deteriorated sections, features,
and materials promptly. Materials and
workmanship should be executed in-kind,
that is, matching the historic fabric.
• Replacement: If historic features and
materials are too deteriorated to repair, they
should be replaced in-kind to match the form,
materials, detailing, and other physical and
visual qualities of the historic fabric.
• Reconstruction: Rebuilding missing
features should only be undertaken based
on historic drawings and/or photographic
documentation.
• New Construction/Additions: New work
should be similar in size, scale, material,
design, and color to the existing historic fabric
and should not obscure or damage characterdefining
features. Designs that mimic the
historic appearance or are borrowed from
another building are discouraged because
they confuse the historic record and diminish
the integrity of the resource.
All proposals for work on historic buildings,
whether they are repair, renovation, restoration, or
new construction, should start with identification
of the important design features and materials
that make the building in question significant and
unique. Chapter 8, Historic Buildings at Moravian
College, is intended as a resource for significance
and integrity assessments and provides baseline
building-by-building information for this critical,
yet simple, features assessment. The primary
considerations that one should look for are building
shape, materials, roof and roof features, windows
John Milner Associates • October 2009 • Chapter 9 • Building Guidelines • 279