BUILDING CONSERVATION PROJECTS
GRADE I VICTORIAN TILE FLOOR REMOVAL AND CLEANING,
MAIDENHEAD, UK
I worked with a small conservation team to remove, clean and carefully relay over 18,000 original floor tiles at Allsaints Church,Maidenhead, Est. 1857. This particular church is a Grade I listed building. I Exceeded project expectations and timeline by having tile removal ahead of schedule within the first third of the project.
Once all tiles were documented and removed, they were cleaned using a variety of methods including: gentle Dremel cutting through old screed, chisel and dummy scraping, detailed filing, and gentle sanding. Some tiles were backed with epoxy resin and cement from previous repairs. These tiles required additional cleaning methods such as fine chiseling and grinding. Broken tiles were cleaned and organised for necessary conservation repairs.
One all tiles were cleaned and re-organised, they were returned to the church for relaying.
THOMAS JEFFERSON MEMORIAL MARBLE CLEANING,
WASHINGTON, DC
I worked on steam cleaning and laster cleaning of the marble on the dome and drum walls of the Jefferson Memorial. This was the first conservation undertaking for the Jefferson Memorial roof since its construction. I performed steam cleaning to remove all biological films within the marble and remove staining. This was strong enough to penetrate the stains in the marble for removal, without damaging any of the historic structure.
Following steam cleaning, laser cleaning was carried out to continue to ensure all biological growths were removed from the interior of the marble.
HOUSE MILL CONSERVATION MAINTENANCE PROJECT,
LONDON, UK
A conservation maintenance planning program was carried out in order to help the stakeholders of the Historic House Mill. I created a maintenance plan after a week of on-site investigations. Inspections for creation of the maintenance plan included inspection, for both the floors and the windows; plans for general cleaning, for both the floors and the windows;. Also, maintenance suggestions included beneficial dusting of the interior window panels, ideally once a month and wash window frames and glass panels, bi-annually; dehumidifying and mould remediation; replace and repaint the historic floors and windows using other ethically sourced, historic materials. Repainting recommended every 2-5 years for interior and every 10 years for exterior
MARBLE STONE TREATMENT AT THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY,
WASHINGTON, DC
I worked with a small crew of 5 women to perform chemical consolidation on the marble of the Carnegie Library in Washington, DC. Similar to the Capitol Building restoration, I took part in all phases of consolidation from complete site protection to the actual spraying of all chemicals. I also completed written and photo documentation of all work performed during each phase. We consolidated the sculptural elements inside the building’s pediments as well as the central sculptural groups of the building.
The Carnegie Library of Washington, DC, historically known as the Central Public Library, was the first public library and the first desegregated building for the Washington community, donated by famed philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie. The library was operational from 1903-1972, but then failed to house a substantial tenant and function until 1999, when the Historical Society of Washington, DC (HSW) signed a 99-year lease. Despite the tenancy with HSW, the Carnegie Library had fallen to nearly 50 years of obsolescence due to the lack of a sustainable function. In 2016, Apple, Inc. proposed the Carnegie Library Rehabilitation and Modernization project, signed a maximum 20-year lease, and funded a complete conservation and adaptive reuse project for the building. In May 2019, the Carnegie Library re-opened to the public as Apple Carnegie Library and DC History Center, a joint tenancy space shared between Apple retail and the Historical Society of Washington, DC.
The building represented the progressive social movements from 1903 through today, holding value and significance for the community. This preservation undertaking is believed to be successful because the building was conserved in entirety and every phase of this building enhances the building’s cultural significance. Apple’s presence on the building does not detract significantly from the historic significance and adheres to DC Preservation Law, Venice and Burra Charters. However, this research only covers one moment in an ongoing, longitudinal study of the partnership within this historic building. Majority of the research and interviews were collected in the summer of 2019, and continual research and observation is necessary to understand the success or failures of this adaptive reuse and sustainable development project.
UNITED STATES CAPITOL EXTERIOR STONE AND METALS PRESERVATION,
WASHINGTON, DC
I was involved in the preservation and refinishing of bronze grilles and railings from the balcony cheek walls of the United States Supreme Court. The bronze railing assemblies consisted of top rails with decorative egg and dart designs, posts, bottom post caps, bottom rails and central square grilles. The grilles were composted of 4 smaller square sections, divided by horizontal, vertical and diagonal spokes, creating a star pattern. Decorative round, half round and rosettes accentuated the intersections of each spoke. All bronze elements were removed from site for treatment. All the bronze elements were micro-abraded to remove all previous coatings as well as to remove cuprous corrosion. We created large baths full of distilled water and patina in order to recoat the bronze elements. I hand sanded and buffed the bronze elements in order to achieve the highlights and lowlights requested by the Architect of the Capitol. All bronze elements received a coating of lacquer to stop the patination process and to protect them from corrosion. I organized all bronze elements by location, element and placement, and crated them in order to easily be reinstalled. I oversaw the reinstallation process. After reinstallation was completed, I treated the remaining four grilles and railings in-situ. These bronze elements were micro-abraded, hand patinated and lacquered on site. I have included pictures of the bronze grilles and handrails before treatment, after micro- abrasion, our patination bath, hand detail work, as well as in-situ work and touch ups. All photos are in the order that treatment took place in.
CONSERVATION OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT BRONZE RAILINGS,
WASHINGTON, DC
I was involved in the preservation and refinishing of bronze grilles and railings from the balcony cheek walls of the United States Supreme Court. The bronze railing assemblies consisted of top rails with decorative egg and dart designs, posts, bottom post caps, bottom rails and central square grilles. The grilles were composted of 4 smaller square sections, divided by horizontal, vertical and diagonal spokes, creating a star pattern. Decorative round, half round and rosettes accentuated the intersections of each spoke. All bronze elements were removed from site for treatment. All the bronze elements were micro-abraded to remove all previous coatings as well as to remove cuprous corrosion. We created large baths full of distilled water and patina in order to recoat the bronze elements. I hand sanded and buffed the bronze elements in order to achieve the highlights and lowlights requested by the Architect of the Capitol. All bronze elements received a coating of lacquer to stop the patination process and to protect them from corrosion.
I organized all bronze elements by location, element and placement, and crated them in order to easily be reinstalled. I oversaw the reinstallation process. After reinstallation was completed, I treated the remaining four grilles and railings in-situ. These bronze elements were micro-abraded, hand patinated and lacquered on site. I have included pictures of the bronze grilles and handrails before treatment, after micro- abrasion, our patination bath, hand detail work, as well as in-situ work and touch ups. All photos are in the order that treatment took place in.
NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER MEMORIAL IN-PAINTING,
WASHINGTON, DC
This memorial is dedicated to the more than 20,000 officers killed nationwide in the line of duty since 1791. The monument features two blue-gray limestone walls inscribed with the names of the fallen, each surmounted by a statuary group of a lion protecting its cubs at the end and facing seating benches. In preparation for National Police Week in DC, we restored the quotes underneath each lion, as well as the large quotes located inside the reflecting pool. I power washed and scrubbed each area to remove all dirt, debris and old painting inside of each letter. We used power washers, soft detergent and nylon bristle brushes to clean all letters. I was responsible for in-painting the lion that read, “In valor, there is hope”. Below are photos of myself during and after in painting.