McLean Hospital fiscal offices - conversion of a 1920’s gymnasium
While I was at Perry Dean and Stewart [PDS - at the time, a medical facilities specialty firm] I was privileged to head the renovation department with my primary assignment being the venerable McLean Hospital [psychiatric]. There I undertook dozens of renovation and specialty projects, including the conversion of a historic gymnasium to the main fiscal offices. Constructed by Walsh Brothers who, as it turns out, were the original contractors for this gymnasium and still had the original blueprints in their files.
The client had expected just to provide a suspended ceiling underneath the wood structural members, especially since the ceiling space was to function as a huge plenum to carry the mechanical ductwork. I persuaded him to develop a selective infill strategy that would allow the wood structural members to remain articulated and that would allow the dormers to remain and/or to become skylights. The sections below, best convey this design strategy.
