Trumbull College, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

   Add the fact that the worksite sits on the campus of one of the country’s premier educational institutions – Yale University – and the project is a heady challenge. And yet, the recently completed job with Trumbull College is an excellent example of working in the new without damaging the old.
   Trumbull College is one of the Yale University's oldest residential colleges. Named for Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut at the time of the American Revolution, Trumbull is also the smallest of Yale’s twelve residential colleges. A walled cluster of golden granite buildings fronting on a busy urban intersection, the college was designed by architect James Gamble Rogers in 1930 and built in stages over the next several years.
   Prominent at the turn of the last century, Rogers was well known for his academic buildings, including the Deering Library of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., along with the Columbia University structures of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and the Butler Library of Columbia University in New York. For ten years he served as architectural adviser to Yale, his alma mater.
   At Yale, he designed several well known buildings, including nine of Yale’s residential colleges, Sterling Memorial Library and the Sterling School of Graduate Studies. Trumbull’s buildings of seam-faced granite with limestone trim were originally part of the Sterling Quadrangle, and harmonize with neighboring Sterling Memorial Library, which was under construction at the same period.
   Rogers considered Trumbull his greatest work. Its design, modeled on the 15th-century buildings of King’s College in Cambridge, England, represented the Collegiate Gothic style. One of the most picturesque complexes at Yale, Trumbull displays Jacobean-style chimneys, gothic arches and a large Norman dining hall.
   The buildings merely simulate the older architecture. Though they appear to be constructed of solid stone blocks in the authentic manner of the 15th century, many of the 1930 walls incorporate steel framing commonly used at the time.
   In his quest to mimic the older college, Rogers added to the appearance of great age of these buildings by splashing the walls with acid; breaking leaded-glass windows and then repairing them in the style of the Middle Ages; and creating niches for decorative statuary, then leaving them empty to simulate losses due to breakage or theft over centuries of use.
   The success of the Trumbull design is often measured by its aesthetic appeal; but, as part of a thriving university complex, it must also be measured by functionality and the ability to be modified and updated. In 2003, Yale University went ahead with plans for comprehensive renovations to Trumbull that are now complete, and should allow the buildings to serve their required functions without major work for the next 40-50 years.
   The architectural firm chosen for the renovation design was Goody, Clancy and Associates of Boston, a firm with expertise in historical preservation. The firm made a concerted effort to preserve the architectural integrity of the buildings while addressing problems that surfaced over the course of time.
   The project included not only exterior and interior restorations, but also the reconfiguring of suites for more than 200 students to allow upgrades for improved accessibility, life safety and new mechanical systems. In addition, a maze of below-grade spaces was transformed into new student recreational areas such as a lounge, café, theatre and art studios, plus other amenity spaces not only meeting current needs but offering flexibility for future uses.
   Trumbull’s exacting architecture and its small size made the renovation project challenging. For example, access to the interior of the site – an interior that includes three separate courtyards, Main Court, Potty Court and Stone Court – was limited.
   Three small gates made it especially difficult to move materials in and out of the construction site. A one-hundred-fifty ton crane had to be set up on the exterior of the college to lift construction materials over the perimeter buildings and into the courtyards, along with the use of a conveyor belt to remove materials from the interior.
   Before the design phase began, the architects performed a series of studies on the complex; they knew that having as complete an understanding of the original construction as possible during the early design phase would minimize unforeseen conditions during new construction.
   They reviewed original drawings and specifications, contemporary magazine articles, letters, minutes of trustees meetings, photographs and other documents. Their studies also included on-site surveys, as well as destructive and nondestructive investigations.
   The studies revealed that the structural systems at Trumbull ranged from ancient building techniques of unreinforced masonry walls to more-advanced alternatives available at the beginning of the last century. Some of the unreinforced walls were made of locally available stones and some were made of more distantly quarried stones.
   In a number of instances where load-bearing masonry arches and/or vaults were used in the construction; in at least one circumstance, what appeared to be load-bearing construction was not. Nearly all of the load-bearing foundation walls extending just one story below grade are made of plain concrete footings and unreinforced masonry (usually stone).
   The conservation, restoration and rehabilitation of the building envelope and select interior spaces, where retention of historic fabric was a major goal, also involved an analysis of existing conditions. The exterior walls of Trumbull are seam-face granite ashlar on street fronts and face brick on court walls; Indiana limestone trim was used throughout.
   Studies show the walls were in good condition, as was the graduated slate at the roof, along with its gypsum plank substrate. But several coats of paint had been applied to the interior limestone trim over the decades, and this more-delicate stonework and mortar required extensive cleaning.
   The split-face granite on the exterior walls actually needed so little repair that contractors managed to utilize demolition stone from the site; no quarry matches were needed. After 75 years, the scope of work on the granite exterior included cleaning of stone only with particularly soiled areas. However, other exterior work involved replacement of many steel casement windows and most of the leaded glass.
   In areas where there were large openings in a façade, such as at bay windows, the Gothic-style architecture called for full stone on the exterior. In reality, the bay windows at Trumbull College are made of structural steel beams located immediately behind the exterior masonry. When water penetrated this steel, which was not flashed or otherwise waterproofed, the steel rusted and caused some displacement of the masonry.
   Fortunately, affected areas were limited because of a limited amount of such structural steel behind the exterior masonry. But, replacing the limestone in these areas required matching the original stone in color, patina and carving. Master architectural carver Michael Selvaggi, a third-generation carver, spent a year on the Trumbull project, methodically making the new stonework blend with the old.
   Selvaggi applauded the work of the original carvers at Trumbull, noting the appearance of much-earlier, hand-hewn work. Was it actually hand-hewn? Selvaggi said he had no way of knowing exactly what method they used, and had to experiment with a variety of techniques on each piece of stone to replicate the work.
   “The carving is incredible,” he says. “Different carving styles were intentionally juxtaposed to accentuate the appearance that the carving was the hand-hewn work of various master carvers working with hammer and chisel. This gave the stone an Old World texture and feel.”
   Selvaggi also admired the carvers’ intelligence and sense of humor. For example, Potty Court is named for the seat of a prominent gargoyle.
   Selecting the limestone needed for repairs was a collaborative effort. Variegated full-color blend from the Bedford Quarry of Indiana Limestone Co. was supplied by New England Stone LLC, of North Kingstown, R.I.
   Tony Ramos, founder of New England Stone, was able to identify the original limestone immediately, and blocks were sent from the quarry. Fabricating the blocks to replicate the original profiles of door and window surrounds proved much more time-consuming.
    “Because individual buildings at Trumbull were completed at different times, the profiles of the limestone trim on each section vary slightly,” says Bruce Walls, a project manager at New England Stone. “Each had to be duplicated exactly; profiles could not be intermixed within a building or a room.
   “I traveled to the site often, securing salvaged sections, using a pencil and profile gauge to define each profile. These were scanned into a computer and retraced to develop three-dimensional models. I also used polystyrene .02 thick plastic template material to insure the accuracy of the profiles.”
   New England Stone cut the limestone shapes and provided a medium sandblasted finish for the carvers. Matching the final patina on 1,400 limestone window surrounds was the work of a crew of masonry restoration specialists from Hollfelder Company LLC of North Haven, Conn., led by Sean Cox and Hugh Masterson.
   Bill Donat of Hollfelder said that the patina had to be exact but wouldn’t divulge his method of duplicating the time-worn finish. A secret is a secret, especially when so much time and experimentation are involved.
   Cleaning the interior limestone and mortar was another difficult task. Years of paint and grime had to be removed while preserving the original finish. Hollfelder turned to MMD Equipment and the patented Farrow System®, a gentle abrasive system that employs heated water and volcanic media under low pressure.
   The system, originally developed in Loddon, England for the marine industry, is now used in numerous applications such as restoration and graffiti removal because it is easily transported and quick to set up. It is also easily controlled; air pressure, water distribution and media texture are all variable.
   Because the system uses less than 55 psi of pressure, it was perfect for cleaning the limestone and delicate mortar at Trumbull. Because the system doesn’t use any chemicals and is environmentally safe, it was also the perfect choice for the urban campus location.
   Now the lovely Trumbull College has been returned to use as a residential college with updated spaces and restored stonework. The goal of the Goody Clancy design team has been achieved; all of the new construction for this renovation has been designed to last as long as the original materials and see the residents of Trumbull through the new century in comfort and style … Collegiate Gothic Style.
   Reference material used includes Traditional Becomes Modern:  The Rise of Collegiate Gothic Architecture at American  Universities by Deborah Robinson and Edmund P. Meade, and Importing Oxbridge by Alex Duke.

Client: Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
Architects: Goody, Clancy and Associates, Boston
Stone Suppliers: New England Stone LLC, North Kingstown, R.I.
Stone Restoration: Hollfelder Company LLC, North Haven, Conn.; Stone Restoration and Carving, Milford, Conn.
Stone Cleaning: MMD Equipment, Swedesboro, N.J.

This article first appeared in the September 2006 print edition of Stone Business. ©2006 Western Business Media Inc.