However, thanks to a capital campaign and a generous donation from longtime benefactors of the university, Kevin and Lisa Clayton, that was all about to change.
Packer Hall had undergone one major renovation since its original 19th century completion, a 1950s reworking that added a three-story addition to the building’s south side, gutted much of the interior, and replaced many of the building’s original windows with double-hung units, many including screens, muntin bars, and storm windows. All perfectly fine for the time, but they had cut out some of the available light to an already dark and wood-heavy interior.
“Before the renovation, we had storm windows, muntins on top of screens,” Jim LaRose, Lehigh Facilities lead project manager, said. “There were multiple layers the light had to struggle through.”
So, with this latest renovation, there was a strong desire to bring light and openness to the building, make it an inviting space — a destination — and hopefully transform a vital location in the Lehigh student experience. To accomplish this, the Lehigh planning team knew they needed a whole host of changes, including new windows.
“It's an historic building, so we knew a lot of people were going to be looking at this knowing that the identity of Lehigh is in the image of this building,” said Bob Mohr, Architect and principal at Shepley Bulfinch and lead designer on the project. “Getting the windows right was a really critical part of the puzzle.”
With Shepley Bulfinch in place as the architectural firm for the project and Skanska the construction managers, the team needed to identify who the window supplier would be. In the end, it was Marvin.
“Marvin was selected to be the window provider on the project for a combination of factors,” LaRose said. “It was based on quality, responsiveness, being able to adhere to a schedule and not deviate, as well as just the reputation and the engineering capacity of the firm, knowing we'd have numerous custom windows and challenges presented by the existing conditions on site.”
With the window choice in place, the project was off and running. Leading the charge from the Marvin side: architectural project manager Dave Aquadro. Architect Mohr recalled that Aquadro was there from the start:
“Once we had the window provider identified, we immediately started working with David Aquadro and Marvin engineers to develop the project plan for how we were going to attack the windows, both removal and installation of the new.”
Aquadro, given his longtime construction, building, and contracting experience, knew the job was going to require a unique set of skills and problem solving. The project involved more than 200 windows, a wide range of commercial doors, and last, but definitely not least: stone rough openings that needed to be left as is. No grinding to fit the windows. The windows had to fit from the start.
“The historic aspect of the building presented many challenges,” LaRose said. “Specifically, in regard to windows, we had to work within existing openings. The openings were different in character because of the masonry construction. We had to develop basically a series of templates that Marvin could then go and engineer off of."
With the pace of the project picking up and the need to develop the templates growing, there were times when rapid prototyping wasn’t rapid enough. And in some of those cases, necessity became the mother of invention. In this inventive case? A pool noodle.
While looking for something to use to create templates for the new windows, Aquadro looked around his shop and noticed a few pool noodles in a corner. A light bulb went off for the experienced builder and window expert. Here you had something sturdy enough, flexible enough, and malleable enough to fit the bill.
“I actually make up a lot of mock-ups at home,” Aquadro recalled. “And I thought ... it's the perfect dimension. It's a two-inch radius, and I just sliced it, and I clamped it onto the corner of my corner cut with the bendable flats, and I brought that to the job site. ’I'm sorry,’ I said, ‘this is the best I can do for you.’ And it sufficed. It gave them a visual of what we were aiming for.”
This is where trust in your project partners and their experience and expertise becomes paramount. Just ask LaRose about his recollection of this less-than-common templating tool:
“I remember some interesting template concepts,” LaRose recalled with a smile. “One was a pool noodle. I just saw that and walked the other direction. Figured these guys are the experts, they'll figure out the best method to get their templating done.”
The windows spanned more than 20 types and shapes, from massive, mulled together Marvin Ultimate Direct Glaze windows complete with gothic-style tracery to tiny, single-pane pieces of direct-set glass that make up the “flame” on the building’s unique candle windows. Each window was manufactured by the Marvin Signature Services team in Warroad, Minn. As their name would suggest, these experts specialize in ultra-custom projects where attention-to-design detail is of the utmost importance. And who was coordinating all of this, communicating with the dealer, the installers, Lehigh, and keeping everything moving? Aquadro. Manufacturing the windows was one thing, getting them delivered, assembled, up the mountain, and installed was an entirely different task.
“We were on a tight schedule and certain things needed to happen at certain times with little to no error,” LaRose said. “So essentially getting the building envelope closed in and airtight and then watertight on schedule before winter was a huge deal. We basically had a time period of about seven to eight months to get the windows delivered and installed.”
At first, the plan called to have the windows all delivered to campus and stored under what Aquadro dubbed “a circus tent.” This was not going to work. Between the steep, wind-swept hill, the campus’s tight drives and turnarounds, and the vast variety of construction equipment involved, there wasn’t going to be a place to store and stage more than 200 windows and doors.
Instead, installing company Window Repairs & Restoration was able to secure a short-term lease on a warehouse nearby where the windows and doors could be delivered to a proper loading dock, checked in, laid out, and sequenced for travel to campus for installation. The circus tent was avoided and the Lehigh schedule met.
Through it all, the main accomplishment of the project to honor the building’s look and legacy, while bringing it to the 21st century comes through loud and clear – and bright. The campus crossroads is, again, a place the students and staff want to stop, meet, relax, and learn.
It's been incredible, the transformation that the windows have made to the building.”
Nick Christy
Lehigh Associate Director for Student Involvement and Student Center Operations
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