The quality and leadership and professionalism of Gibbs Construction's team was outstanding. They responded quickly to all of the sometimes esoteric concerns of the historic preservation component of the project. They were always helpful and engaged. Their sub-contractors were prepared to deliver the high level of construction demanded by this difficult project. Based on my 36 years working as a preservation architect, I am very impressed by the work performed by Gibbs Construction on this project and recommend them without hesitation.
Rick Fifield, AIA
Artspace Bell School Limited Partnership selected Gibbs to assist their design team as the CMAR contractor for the adaptive reuse of two city blocks of historic school buildings in Treme. Over the course of preconstruction, Gibbs generated milestone estimates and schedules, offered cost-saving suggestions, performed exploratory work, collected subcontractor estimates and worked closely with the architect, historic consultant and structural engineer to efficiently plan construction for a myriad of repairs.
Gibbs transformed 61,332 square feet of the Gothic structure originally built in 1904 as St. Joseph’s Academy into 51 affordable live-work housing units for low to moderate-income artists, cultural workers and families. Additionally, the circa-1927 Ben Franklin building, located on the former Andrew J. Bell campus, was transformed into 23 unique units. Specialty historic restoration included salvaging massive marble stair treads, casting duplicates of original plaster embellishments, rehabilitating failing masonry walls, and replicating the original profile of the doors, windows and millwork. The construction scope also included the refresh of MEP systems, sheetrock and painting, and the installation of modern amenities to complete the look of these industrial-style units.
As this project neared completion, a change order added selective interior demolition and the replacement of the slate roof on the circa-1887 chapel in preparation for the future development of community space.
The success of this experience became the inception of a trusted owner-contractor relationship, which has provided Gibbs with further opportunities to build Artspace facilities as far as Trinidad, Colorado.
Project Facts
Type
Renovation
Budget
$23.5M
Size
108,000 sf
Owner
Artspace Bell School Limited Partnership
Architect
Billes Partners LLC | LRK LLC
Completion
2017
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