Sears
Roebuck and Company Mail Order Store
(Landmark Center)
Boston, Massachusetts
The
Sears Roebuck and Company Mail Order Store was constructed in 1928
in the Fenway section of Boston. Designed to meet the needs of traditional
catalog sales and the company’s rapid expansion into urban retail
markets, the eight-story brick clad structure combined one million
square feet of warehouse and shopping space. Retail activity was concentrated
on the lower levels, while the upper six floors were devoted to processing
catalog sales and providing warehouse facilities. The reinforced concrete
framed structure has modest Art Deco detailing that is particularly
prominent on the eleven story central tower and flanking piers that
project above the roof parapet. Over 1,100 steel industrial windows
were original to the structure. Placed individually or in groupings
of two or three, most featured either a single projecting ventilator
or a pair of stacked ventilators set within the multi-light window.
Each vent in turn was typically divided into two or three vertical
lights.
After more than a decade of disuse, a $100 million rehabilitation was
undertaken in the late 1990s to convert the building into a mixed retail-office
complex called Landmark Center. Through a process of evaluating the surviving
windows and experimenting with various treatment solutions and design
proposals, the decision was made to replace the majority of the windows
while retaining and repairing units in select locations. A new custom
aluminum window featuring true divided lights and insulating glass was
developed that replicated both the interior and exterior details of the
original windows.
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Figure
1. Many of the original Lupton windows incorporated a pair of
stacked
ventilators that projected outward. The vents were centrally located
within a
multi-light frame each of which was set either individually or in
groups of two or
three. Photo: Bruner/Cott & Assoc., Inc.
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Problem
The design and placement of the original rolled steel industrial windows, manufactured
by the now-defunct firm of David Lupton’s Sons, contributed significantly
to the historic character of the Sears building. Utilitarian yet distinctive,
the windows reflected the dual function of the structure as warehouse and
showroom. Of the building’s seventeen window types, almost all shared
some variation of the centrally located projecting ventilator (or ventilators)
framed by a group of fixed lights (see figure 1). Details such as muntin
patterns, muntin widths and profiles, and the profiles of the operable vent
were integral to the look of the windows and the building as a whole (see
figure 2). Because of the distinctive character and prominence of the windows,
any treatment plan required careful regard for the historic appearance of
the original units.
A window inventory and condition survey was the first step in determining the
most appropriate course of action. The assessment revealed that a majority
of the original units had survived, though with varying degrees of wear, corrosion
and other damage. Water penetration had led to deterioration along the interior
glazing beads of the muntin in the ventilator. In some locations structural
settlement had caused the window frames to rack and bend out of plumb making
the vents inoperable. A number of windows had been altered to accommodate air
conditioner units, including the removal of individual muntins. Accumulated
layers of lead paint were common to all of the windows.
Beyond the condition of the existing windows, there were other factors that
influenced the types of window treatment considered. Increased energy efficiency
and aesthetics were two such considerations that were particularly important
with the structure’s function changing from primarily storage to office
use. While the level of conducted heat flow through the existing single glazed
units was previously acceptable, the new office use required greater climate
control. Additionally, the original units did not meet stringent state energy
code requirements. The conversion to office use, in which workers would be
in close proximity to the windows, also strengthened preferences that the interior
profiles remain clean and as accurate to the original configurations as possible.
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| Figure
2. Narrow sightlines, ventilator weathering flanges and mullion
bolt heads
were all distinguishing features of the original steel windows. Photo:
Bruner/Cott & Assoc., Inc. |
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Repair Options
From the outset, serious consideration was given to repairing the majority
of the existing windows and upgrading the units for improved thermal
performance. Any repair program had to be accomplished in situ, as
the original window frames were embedded directly in the masonry surround
without an intermediary subframe. Their removal for repairs or to salvage
and substitute windows from one area of the building to another could
only be achieved by cutting the frames free from the anchors, a process
that would cause considerable damage.
If the windows were retained, energy efficiency could be increased by
either of two alternative treatments: reglazing with insulating glass
units, or installing interior storms. The former approach was quickly
discarded when the thickness of the original steel muntin sections proved
insufficient to support the added weight of new dual-paned glass units.
The second retrofitting option appeared more promising. To avoid obstructing
the muntin arrangement of the historic windows, the proposed interior
storm units had to be fashioned as single sheets extending from the head
to the sill of each steel window. Installation of a mock-up, however,
pointed out the limitations of the system. Because of the depth of their
placement, the storm unit reflected the existing muntin pattern, creating
a visually confusing appearance of two distinct grids when seen from
the outside. On paired and tripartite windows, the multiple storms required
3-inch wide vertical mullions, which, although aligned with the existing
mullions, were not desirable from an interior aesthetic perspective.
A mock-up of the applied muntin system was fabricated utilizing available
extrusions and was temporarily installed in the Sears building. The
flat profiles of the stock extrusions did not, in this case, successfully
recreate the historic window appearance. Had the applied muntin approach
been adopted, it would have been possible to match the outside and
inside
profiles of the original muntin and such details as the drip moldings
and grooves along the operable ventilators through the use of custom
extrusions. However, because of the importance of the windows to the
building’s historic character, it was determined that only a
true divided light solution would adequately reproduce the visual qualities
of the original windows.
Solution
 WINDOWS
NUMBER 20
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