B.4 - C14H-2008-0037 - Texaco Depot — original pdf

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B.4 - 1 HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION MAY 18, 2020 APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS C14H-2008-0037 1300-02 E. 4TH STREET TEXACO DEPOT PROPOSAL Replace some windows and close one window opening; slightly alter a rear roofline; add a concrete ramp to a side elevation; install modern storefront systems in rear and side walls; add a new side staircase and rooftop MEP equipment; and construct a rear elevator tower, trellis, suspended roof deck, covered walkway, and perimeter fence. ARCHITECTURE The property includes two 1½-story, rectangular-plan warehouse buildings both clad in corrugated metal and capped by gabled roofs. The western building (Building A) features a vented monitor roof, 2-over-2 wood-sash windows, other ribbon windows, a paneled wood door, sliding industrial doors, and painted signage; some window and door openings are boarded up. The eastern building (Building B) features a 1-over-1 aluminum-sash window in the front gable end and sliding industrial doors; a number of window openings on side and rear walls are boarded up. PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS For Building A (1300 E. 4th Street on the west), the existing siding and Texaco-related signage will be preserved. The following changes are proposed: Primary (south) facade 1) Rehabilitate the historic 2-over-2 wood-sash windows on the ground floor. 2) Replace the historic window in the façade gable end with a 4-lite clad-wood replica window. The existing window is missing half the wood sash and does not appear to be repairable. West wall (facing Saltillo Path) 3) Rehabilitate the historic 1-over-1 windows at the front of the wall. 4) Replace the paired pedestrian doors with a single flush metal door, shift the door opening slightly to the right, and infill part of the existing door opening with metal siding. 5) Construct a concrete ramp with a simple metal railing, which will provide access to the west entrance. 6) Infill the ribbon-window openings at the rear with slightly differentiated metal siding; create a new five-lite opening with similar dimensions. Rear (north) wall 7) Infill four window openings in the gable end of the front portion of the building with slightly differentiated metal siding. 8) Replace the wood and metal sliding door on the rear wall with a multi-lite metal door flanked by sidelights. The door opening will be shifted approximately 4’ to the east; approximately 4’ of the existing opening to the west will be infilled with salvaged metal siding. B.4 - 2 9) Construct a simple metal awning to shield the rear entrance. The canopy will be attached to the elevator tower wall and the new header above the door and sidelights on the rear wall. East wall (facing the interior of the property) 10) Remove an attached metal shed roof on the front portion. 11) Remove the rear (1-story) portion and install a storefront system with full-height steel-sash windows and a multi-lite steel door. 12) Construct a metal staircase. 13) Construct a new shed-roofed full-height dormer at the rear of the front (2-story) portion of the building, set back 25’ from the front wall. The dormer walls will be clad in metal panels similar to but differentiated from existing siding. A painted metal door shielded by a simple metal awning will open onto the staircase. The dormer roof will descend from the existing roof ridge. Roof 14) Raise the roof ridge by 8 to 12” to accommodate required insulation. The new ridgeline will slope down to the current eave line. 15) Replace the multi-color asphalt-shingle gable roof and monitor roof coverings with shingle roofs with identical materials, colors, sizes, and patterns. No changes are proposed to the roof size, shape, or form, except as noted in #13 with the dormer addition. 16) Remove, clean, and reinstall the metal roofing on the west side of the rear portion of the building. 17) Install metal gutters. Additions 18) Construct a 3-story elevator tower at the rear of the building. The tower will be capped by an inverted conical water tower clad in rusted metal similar to but differentiated from existing siding. The tower itself will be clad in brick at the ground floor and painted metal panels above, with a metal mesh screen shielding the upper stories. Planned signs and paintings were not submitted with this proposal. 19) Construct a roof deck atop the rear eastern portion of the building, set back 1’ from the ridgeline; the metal roof on the western side will still be visible. The deck will be bounded by 4’ tall perforated metal screen. The structure will be supported by metal columns that will penetrate the existing roof and floor and have their own foundations. The deck will not otherwise connect to the building. 20) Replace existing ground-floor wood decks at the rear and east sides of the building with a larger two-level wood deck. The deck will be supported by metal columns and feature a two-story vertical steel sun screen covered by a perforated metal screen doubling as the upper-level railing. Concrete and steel planters will edge the eastern borders of the deck at the ground level. The upper level will be accessed via a new metal staircase at the front of the east wall and a staircase in the new elevator tower. For Building B (1302 E. 4th Street on the west), the existing siding and metal roof will be preserved and repaired as needed. The following changes are proposed: Primary (south) façade 1) Replace the non-historic gable-end window with a 4-over-4 clad-wood window.  Interior (west) wall B.4 - 3 2) Replace a 4-over-4 wood-sash window with a replica with clad-wood sashes. If possible, the existing window will be repaired and retained. 3) Enlarge a window opening into a door opening and install a multi-lite metal door flanked by sidelights. 4) Construct a koi pond with low concrete walls. Rear (north) wall 5) Install 2-over-2 and fixed clad-wood windows in the gable end openings. The existing window sashes are substantially or entirely missing. 6) Infill two non-historic fanlight openings in the gable end with salvaged metal siding. 7) Replace industrial wood and metal sliding doors with a multi-lite metal door flanked by sidelights. The door opening will be enlarged by 5’ on either side. Side (east) wall (facing the property line) 8) Remove damaged windows and infill four window openings with similar but differentiated metal siding. 9) Replace a 4-over-4 wood-sash window with a replica with clad-wood sashes. If possible, the existing window will be repaired and retained. 10) Enlarge a window opening into a door opening and install a painted metal door. Roof 11) Install new HVAC equipment on the east side of the roof, bounded by a simple metal guardrail. The equipment will be set back approximately 15’ from the front wall. 12) Install metal gutters. For the site adjoining Buildings A and B, the following changes are proposed: 1) Construct a metal trellis between the buildings. The trellis will be supported by metal columns and not connected to the buildings. 2) Construct a metal awning with a shallow shed roof between Buildings A and B. 3) Construct a 9’6” high metal fence and paired sculptural metal gates between Buildings A and B. 4) Construct an 8’ high wood fence and gate to the right of Building B. Other site changes were not reviewed. Only the buildings are designated as a historic landmark, not the land parcel. STANDARDS FOR REVIEW The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation are used to evaluate projects to historic landmarks. The following standards apply to the proposed project: 1) A property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment. The use of the property is changing from industrial to commercial. The new use preserves most of the character-defining features of the buildings, including the simple building forms, vernacular materials, limited window and door openings, and historic signage. More noticeable changes will be located at the rear and interior of the property, in locations that minimize their visibility and impact on the buildings’ historic character. The project meets this standard.  B.4 - 4 2) The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize a property will be avoided. The project retains the relationship between and forms of Buildings A and B; retains historic materials, where possible; and replicates materials that cannot be repaired. It does replace doors on side and rear walls with modern storefront systems and infills some window openings, also on secondary walls; infill siding will be similar to but differentiated from existing siding. The project largely meets this standard. 3) Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken. Proposed changes like the new storefront systems employ modern materials and will not create a false sense of history. The project meets this standard. 5) Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved. The project removes limited elements such as a metal shed roof, staircase, and deck. None of these changes appears to have acquired historic significance. The project meets this standard. 5) Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property will be preserved. The property’s distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques will be preserved. Where historic windows no longer exist or are too deteriorated for repair, those features will be replicated. The project meets this standard. 6) Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence. Deteriorated historic features are largely proposed to be repaired. Building A’s shingled roof and monitor are proposed to be replaced with matching design, color, and texture; deteriorated windows on Building B’s east and west walls will be replaced with replicas with clad-wood sashes. The project meets this standard. 7) Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. Cleaning will be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. The project meets this standard. 9) New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property and its environment. Additions and exterior alterations will involve minimal destruction to historic character-defining materials. The dormer addition to Building A will require a portion of the roof to be removed; the roof deck, two-level deck, elevator tower, covered walkway, and trellis will be linked with minimal or no connections to the historic buildings.  B.4 - 5 The new work will be differentiated from the old through modern materials, which are similar to and compatible with the historic materials (e.g., metal mesh railings, steel support posts, metal siding, metal and glass storefront systems). Window and door openings that have been infilled or enlarged will be differentiated from the new openings and historic siding with slightly different metal siding. The project meets this standard. 10) New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired. The roofline change and the dormer are the highest-impact addition to the buildings’ historic fabric. The roofline change is required for insulation and could be reversed if energy requirements were to be lifted; the interior beams and rafters will remain intact. The dormer could be removed in the future and the eastern portion of Building A’s roof returned to its original shape. The roof deck has minimal impacts on the historic fabric; it could be removed and the roof repaired at the structural column locations without substantial impact to the building. The project largely meets this standard. The proposed project meets the standards. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION Not reviewed. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Approve the plans.