Loraine Condominiums

KBS converted this existing 80 year old, 10-story hotel into an updated, 11-story, 84 unit condominium, including a parking garage and leasable commercial space on the first floor. The scope included abatement, demolition, structural modifications and complete common area interior build-out. The entire facade of the building was also renewed with new windows and significant brick and terra cotta repairs. The project was complete in November of 2004.

Address:
123 West Washington Avenue
Madison, WI

Challenges:
The biggest challenges of this project involved the abatement and demolition. KBS received asbestos surveys during the design development phase. These reports showed a substantial amount of the existing drywall mud to contain over 1.0% asbestos. By DNR and OSHA standards, these materials must be properly abated. By retesting and point counting new samples, KBS documented that the asbestos content was less than 1.0%. and saved the Owner over $300,000. We also removed light ballasts, florescent fixtures, HVAC refrigerants, thermostats and oils. We provided training of demolition personnel to allow removal of lead painted materials in lieu of the very expensive lead paint abatement process.

We removed all interior finishes, partitions, utilities, elevators and equipment. Additionally, we removed the top two floors, the ground floor slab, all stairwells, elevator shafts and a significant amount of floor slab in small areas. By removing the ground floor slab, we are able to insert two floors into the same volume to create adequate parking for the entire project. The top two floors were removed to be reconstructed to allow ceiling heights appropriate for "penthouse" units.

Through our own investigation, KBS uncovered major transfer beams over an existing ballroom that required significant structural modification for the new use.

This entire project was completed in downtown Madison with property lines shared with adjacent buildings, shared alley easements or at the sidewalks. This allowed for little or no site storage. KBS used a materials lift at the inside courtyard so as not to disturb the historic façade, storing materials in areas not disturbed by demolition and  secured street and sidewalk closure permits. KBS infilled the old low courtyard area with 3 levels of cast in place concrete parking decks with a landscaped courtyard deck at 3rd floor and continued a cast in place stairwell and elevator core to the 10th floor.

The entire historic facade was cleaned and salvage brick from the demolished penthouses was used to infill HVAC openings. Terra Cotta coins were replaced or repaired.

Consultants were used for an exterior wall analysis, to determine the best thermal system to avoid damaging the existing building components, by properly managing the dewpoint location. Foil faced insulation was applied directly, taped and foamed top and bottom. Uninsulated 2 ½" steel studs were used to fur out the exterior walls, which provided a place for electrical and served to square the old walls without penetrating the exterior wall vapor barrier.

Layout was done as soon as demolition was completed on each floor. The floors were x-rayed to avoid structural members and provide time for any necessary modifications to accommodate plumbing fixtures. This allowed for accurate layouts before the actual materials were ordered and floors cored.

KBS worked directly with the city to secure necessary permits to allow public occupancy in the model unit for sales purposes and continued to work with the city for staged occupancy during unit completion.