"You get your history for free
This architectural firm concentrates on historic restoration
technology, marrying science to aesthetics, performance to design
Chambers, Murphy & Burge Restoration Architects had its origins in
a firm that was founded in 1963 by Henry and Lorraine Chambers, Chambers
and Chambers Architects. The groundbreaking firm began concentrating early
on in historic restoration work, when that field was just coming into existence.
Henry attended Columbia University (which had just begun offering programs
in restoration technology) and graduated with a degree in architecture from
Yale, and these made him a leading edge practitioner in the field. Both
Lorraine and Henry studied in Europe.
Such groundbreaking came easy, to both Chamberses. Lorraine Chambers
as a child had wanted to be an engineer, like her father, but he told her
being female wouldn't help her much. So she became an architect instead,
a field that she found also presented some obstacles for females. When she
was graduated from Cornell University, for instance, she was not allowed
to take the registration exam in New York, with the presenters telling her
that having a husband who was an architect should have been enough for her.
The determined woman crossed over into Connecticut and took it there-and
won reciprocal rights to practice in New York State at the same time. She
took all such obstacles in stride and marched on anyway, without complaint.
The two architects met in New York, while working on the United Nations
Building, and after their marriage left the East Coast, possibly heading
for Henry's native Nebraska. Instead they stopped in Akron to work on a
project with Mitch Kinarski, for Akron City Schools, they stayed, and founded
Chambers and Chambers in 1963, specializing in historic restoration. Said
Henry about the firm's projects, "Our goal is not to exceed the cost
of new construction-and you get your history free."
The firm's work for the National Park Service, regulatory agency for
restoration projects, included authorship of Cyclical Maintenance for Historic
Buildings, a standard text. Other clients included Thomas Jefferson's Poplar
Forest in Virginia, Frank Lloyd Wright's Dana-Thomas House in Illinois,
Mahar Hall at the Naval Academy at Annapolis, the Philadelphia City Hall,
the Louisiana Mint and the Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa and Washington state
capitols. Much of Chambers and Chambers work was in consulting with other
architectural firms, at a time when such collaboration was less common than
it is today.
Creating a new team
In 1988, when Henry died, Lorraine kept up the practice alone, delighting
in the design work but unenthused about the management. In 1993, she was
working with two architects from Myers Associates, Lauren Burge and Elizabeth
Murphy, specialists in restoration work for the firm, on a project for Western
College for Women. The three hit it off, and Chambers, Murphy & Burge
Restoration Architects was born. "We've never looked back," say
the pair. The two continue the partnership today, following Lorraine's death
in 2002.
Burge had always wanted to be an architect, loving drawing, art and design
and having friends who were architecture students at nearby Kent State,
while Murphy loved science and math and had a dad with a lumberyard. "You
put all that in a bucket, turn it over, and an architect comes out,"
says Murphy. The two women met at Kent at the architectural school, both
moving on to Myers.
Since Chambers, Murphy & Burge was born, it has doubled in size,
with a staff of 10 now, including three registered architects, two more
preservation technologists with degrees in architecture, a graduate in landscape
architecture with an MA in preservation, and an adjunct decorative painting
studio, Origin Artisans Group. Elizabeth Murphy is one of only two female
Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in the state. BXM
Restoring and preserving the past
Chambers Murphy & Burge
Restoration Architects; examples from across the country
First Congregational Church, Akron:
The Romanesque Revival church has a complex façade, with crenelated
towers, various masonry textures and round top windows with unique stained
glass patterns. It is significant in that it retains an Akron Plan of church
design interior promoted by its designer, Charles Henry & Sons. The
sanctuary was restored, including the oak woodwork, decorative painting,
stenciling, decorative plaster moldings, and stained glass windows, as well
as a domed skylight. Updates included expanding features for current needs
while maintaining the original , historically accurate, aesthetic.
Artisans recreated designs using the original elements and others of
the time period. Exterior renovation included restoring a slate roof and
copper cladding on the monitor, reworking the bells and repairing masonry.
The project won several Builders Exchange Craftsmanship Awards.
Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, Grosse Pointe Shores, MI:
The former home of the heir to the Ford Motor Company was designed by
Albert Kahn in the Cotswold style and was built in the late 1920s.
The six buildings on the Ford estate are maintained under the Cyclical
Maintenance Plan designed by Chambers Murphy & Burge, which also implements
capital projects as the budget allows.
Ohio Courts Building, Columbus:
This 13-story government building is an Art Deco masterpiece renovated
by Schooley Caldwell Associates to house the Ohio state courts, judiciary
offices and law library. Chambers Murphy & Burge was retained to evaluate
and plan the restoration of the mosaics on walls, floors and vaulted ceilings
and the decorative metals in the building, from a bas-relief sculpture to
200 bronze doors, as well as develop a maintenance plan. The doors also
had to be coordinated with accessibility and security controls.
Kirtland Flats Master Plan, Kirtland:
Chambers, Murphy & Burge was responsible for the master plan to recreate
several of the buildings important to the original settlement of the Church
of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, for which the church is continuing
to reacquire land.
The site currently has a re-constructed schoolhouse, ashery and sawmill
that were based upon archeology-all part of the project. The CMB team restored
the Whitney Home and Johnson Farm and adaptively used another home for the
LDS Geneology Center. The LDS church was a wonderful client, sharing their
extensive historical records and the services of an archeologist to research
the original sites. These projects received an AIA Ohio Design Award.
Orton Hall, Columbus:
Ohio State University's geology department offices and classrooms are
located in a building created from 13 types of stone native to Ohio. Chambers
Murphy & Burge overhauled the complex tile roofline and restored the
cornices and copper downspouts that protected the gargoyles.
Westcott House, Springfield:
The only Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie Style house in Ohio, this restoration
took intense scholarship to complete, was a "once in a blue moon, just-in-time,
project, so dilapidated that it almost did not survive. Chambers Murphy
& Burge was retained by the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy
to prepare the Historic Structures Report. CMB partnered with Schooley Caldwell
Associates as the architects for the restoration. The firm worked closely
with the newly formed Westcott House Foundation and with several talented
local artisans to bring the home back, and the successful work attracted
13,000 visitors last year. It is one, says Elizabeth Murphy, where people
tell her, "I am going to go see your project."
Other outstanding projects
- Dallas County Courthouse (Old Red), Dallas
- Fasano House, Alfred University
- Fox Theater, Detroit
- Hower House, Akron
- Sta Hywet, Akron
- McKinley Memorial, Canton
- Fair Lane (the Henry Ford House), Dearborn
- The Octagon, DC
- Cuyahoga County Courthouse
- United Building, Akron
- Minnesota State Capitol. St. Paul BXM
Restoration involves a wide range of services
Chambers, Murphy & Burge
will recycle old or historic
structures for new uses or
restore unique landmarks
to strict conservation
standards.
This architectural firm specializes in technical restoration, with specialties
in research and education, cyclical maintenance planning, and creating historic
district guidelines.
As specialists in historic preservation, Chambers, Murphy & Burge
Restoration Architects specializes in the technology of restoration, lending
their expertise in the area to clients, other architects and others. And
in this field, technical means technical. "Scholarship is a large part
of what we do," say partners Elizabeth Corbin Murphy, FAIA, and Lauren
Pinney Burge, AIA. The firm library still contains chemistry books from
co-founder Henry Chambers (as well as 3,000 other volumes of tech lore).
He conducted his own experiments on such topics as the effects of air pollution
on stone while Lorraine did optical microscopy of the many coatings used
in historic buildings.
"Architecture is a well-rounded education," says Murphy, as
it covers everything from math and materials physics to history and sociology
to art and design. "They train you to solve problems," explains
Burge. "You are given a situation and the requirements you have to
meet, and you figure out a way to do it." Plus, says Murphy, "
Architecture is really a public art form that affects the way we live."
This diversity of background, coupled with open mindedness, is a great preparation
for life as a public figure, they say, not that either is announcing as
a candidate for office anytime soon.
With all that, Chambers, Murphy & Burge does give back to the community,
believing that part of its mission is education about the value of historic
buildings. The partners speak to groups such as the Frank Lloyd Wright Building
Conservancy, Association for Preservation Technology and the Traditional
Building Conference of the American Institute of Architects, hoping to raise
awareness of preservation and its role in creating a society. "Architects
need to know what we do, that we are not little old ladies in sneakers,"
says Murphy. "We are called in to advise them on such things as how
new work can be fit into an historic context as they do adaptive reuse.
We can serve as liaisons to the Ohio Historic Preservation Office-we speak
their language and have a good reputation for doing things correctly."
The color green
One important aspect of historic restoration, say the partners, is its
contribution to sustainability. "When you see the amount of construction
debris being hauled away after demolition, you realize how much restoration
saves the environment," says Burge. "Plus, in restoration, more
of the money goes toward labor than materials, and that keeps money in the
community."
True to its partners' convictions, the firm has been located for seven
years in a Victorian commercial building now in its third life. It is located
in the Main-Market (National Register) Historic District in downtown Akron,
a district that they established. They are championing another such district
at Akron's Main and Exchange intersection, so that currently unoccupied
buildings can be restored to begin earning taxes again. Not surprisingly,
Murphy and Burge speak highly of the good return on investment of federal
tax credits and the new state historic tax credits, plus a hoped-for plan
for the feds to extend tax credits to 40% for projects up to $2 million.
Say the partners, "We think it's good that the state's economic development
department will track the economic benefits to determine the payback for
these private dollars being spent. It's smart to have that documentation."
Maintenance and guidelines
An important part of Chambers, Murphy & Burge's work is its creation
of cyclical maintenance plans for historic buildings. Company founders Henry
and Lorraine Chambers were one of the first to promote this concept, and
they wrote the maintenance plan for the Michigan State Capital. Too often,
the partners say, maintenance is neglected, even in high profile buildings
with active champions, but cyclical maintenance saves money in the long
run while preserving buildings. "Every property owner and manager needs
to know how important a written maintenance plan is, even those in new buildings,"
they say. "You have to do it from Day One,"
Also important is the creation of design guidelines as a resource for
communities planning historic districts. Chambers, Murphy & Burge's
most recent effort along those lines is a book for building owners in the
historic districts of Medina. The easy-to-use guide will help the community
retain its historic appeal and ultimately its commercial appeal.
Right now, they add, the historic buildings most at risk are those from
the 1950s and 60s. They are in the "historic blind spot" that
has always existed for buildings about 50 years old, too old to be seen
as exciting but too new to have captured the attention of the public, though
academics tend to cherish them as they are often built in the periods in
which they were trained.
As for new architecture, they look out from their office windows at the
just-being-built Akron Museum of Art expansion by Coop Himmelb(l)au. One
feature is the "cloud," which will be lighted at night to create
liveliness without light pollution and which can be changed to add freshness
and style without costliness. "What is exciting about that is the level
of awareness of architecture and the arts it has created," says Murphy.
"We are anxious to see the people flocking to it when it is open."
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