The Schoolhouse by Rome Office

The New Orleans-based Rome Office combines due diligence and sleight-of-hand to transform a nineteenth-century schoolhouse into a twenty-first-century apartment building.

Located in Mid City, New Orleans The Schoolhouse building has a rich history. It was built in 1894 as a primary school for the city’s Third Ward. After nearly 100 years of use, reuse, and renovation, it became home to the city’s first black-owned radio station before it was abandoned near the end of the last century and left to decay for 20 years. Much of its ornament lost to history; its windows broken or rotted. Rome Office not only restored the original appearance of the building, they also maintained the original interior layouts as well — transforming former classrooms into one-bedroom apartments. Their unique layouts use a floating core in each unit —a “box for living”— to preserve the interior of the masonry structure as well as the exterior, which the firm restored to its original turn-of-the-century glory. 

To learn more about how new windows helped restore the spirit of the old building, Acelab spoke with Painter-in-charge Melissa Rome and Project Architect Mollie Burke of Rome Office.

Acelab: How many different types of windows did you use for this project?  

Melissa Rome: We have basically three different types of window systems in this project: the ground floor are storefront windows; on the second and third floors, we refurbished or rebuilt in-kind the historic windows; and we added new skylights.

Acelab: How many of the original windows on the second and third floors were you able to save and refurbish?

Melissa: A lot of the windows still existed, but the glass had obviously broken out. I would say we saved more than 50% of the original windows. The jams and the pockets for the weights had to be rebuilt. But a lot of the sashes were there and just had to be cleaned up and painted.

Acelab: For the ones that you had to replace, how closely do they match the original? Are they historically accurate reconstructions or something more modern that just matches the look of the original windows?

Mollie: No, for historic tax credits, we had to replace in-kind. We did make one change. We added laminate glass. It was thicker glass, so we needed to go back and route out a larger gap in those existing sashes to receive the new glass. It helps with the impact rating of the windows, which is important in New Orleans.

Acelab: When you have to match historic windows, how limited are your options? Can you get windows through larger companies that meet those historic standards? What's your process like when you need to match something?

Melissa: It's very difficult to find matching windows if you're going for historic tax credits; if your project is going to be reviewed according to the Secretary of Interior standards. You have replace in-kind. That means you have to recreate the window exactly. You have to use the same species of wood, have the same trim details and stile profiles, and the rails need to match as well. 

Mollie: Luckily, our contractor had their own mill shop. So they were able to take the sashes and the trim and take it to their shop and replicate pretty exactly how it was originally.

Acelab: Tell me about the skylights.

Melissa: I don't know how familiar you are with NPS or the historic standards, but they're really hesitant to let you put skylights in buildings that didn't have them previously. We had to strategically locate them to where you couldn't see them.

Mollie: We did a little playhouse mock-up but the historic agencies did not want us to put in something that was going to be visible on the existing form of the roof. So one of our solutions was to get a thin deck-mounted profile and apply some sort of layer to the glazing that gives it the appearance of shingles. We went through many tests with fritted glass, trying to get the pattern right so it brings light into the attic but it doesn’t change the building’s appearance. 

Acelab: So you created fritting to match the appliance of roof shingles?

Melissa: No. The fritting was cost-prohibitive. We ended up using bus wrap. Literally. It’s a vinyl film printed with a shingle pattern that’s attached to the outside of the glass. It reduces reflectivity and has a five-year warranty — that’s as long as you need for tax credits. I think works better, actually. 

Acelab: It is pretty convincing. Was it hard to find a skylight with a thin enough profile?

Mollie: Not too hard. These are residential skylights. So there are deck-mounted and curb-mounted versions. And luckily, the slope of our roof was enough that we could go with the deck-mounted version.

Melissa: And you know, some people do use flush-mount skylights to appease historic agencies. I don't think we were brave enough to go that route. Not in New Orleans, because of the water. But they accepted these low profile ones.

Acelab: What about the storefront? That’s definitely a more contemporary element there. 

Melissa: Right. So, originally there were no windows on the ground floor. It was a crawlspace. We lowered the slab and turned it into office space, but our design intent was to try to make it look like a crawlspace from the exterior. So we went with a storefront that had black frames and dark glazing. It replaces some glass block from a previous renovation and kind of disappears. It looks more like a void, which is what it was. The agencies liked that because it captured the original design intent of the building.

Acelab: What did you use for the storefront?

Mollie: We specified Kawneer but they ended up installing a YKK impact-rated system. It’s a comparable product and we think it had a better lead time.

Acelab: This was an involved project.

Melissa: Oh my gosh, yeah. It was. But I mean, it was a labor of love. We really loved doing it and the client was awesome.

A big thank you to Melissa and Mollie from Rome Office for taking the time to talk with us. You can read more about The Schoolhouse on their website. 

This interview was conducted by ADvsCOPY for Acelab. It has been condensed and lightly edited.

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