New Project!!!!

Professio by Matt Henson, Inc. is pleased to announce that we have started work on the precious Hipolito F. Garcia Federal building and U.S. courthouse located directly across the street from the Alamo in San Antonio Texas. We are proud to be a part of the team that The Beck Group put together for the restoration of this stately building.  We are responsible for protecting and restoring the historically significant interior portions of the building including the ornamental plaster, flat plaster, decorative paint finishes and protecting the large Howard Cook fresco mural in the entry lobby. See the photo.

One of our first tasks is to do an analysis of the original paint finishes. This will require careful removal of the paint to expose the first layer without damaging the surface of the subsequent layers of paint, thus giving us the opportunity to color match the paint that will be applied to these areas. It never ceases to amaze me that when all the original colors are put back into their places, these old buildings just seem to come back to life. All the elements from the chandeliers to the mechanical grill covers to the tile floors will once again work in concert to bring back to life the genius of designers Ralph Cameron and Paul Cret. Paul Cret is best known in Texas as the designer of the Main building and Tower on the University of Texas campus in Austin Texas.

Another part of our contract is protecting the mural. This mural is one of the largest frescoes in the United States. It can be easily damaged by dust created during reconstruction. Most of the dust around job sites come from cutting and sanding. Most of the surfaces are alkaline such as concrete, masonry mortars, plaster, drywall and drywall mud. We have to install protection over the mural to insure that these elements will never come in contact with the fragile paint surface. The protection will also have to be installed in such a way that it will not damage the surface. Delicate work with lots of precautions. Extra levels of caution are in order here and we will have professional conservators inspecting and advising on the work through the process.

Next we will need to devise a plan to cut into the existing plaster finishes to provide access to run new electrical systems, fire alarms, and fire sprinkler piping. We will be researching the framing and structural elements and develop a plan that will minimize the destruction of historic fabric and prevent causing additional damage. A lot of restoration projects fail to do this and disaster happens. Without due diligence, a structural ceiling could fail resulting in a loss of historically significant elements as well as risking the lives of workers below.

As you can see, it takes a lot of preplanning and looking at all the possibilities of failure and providing safeguards to create a environment where we are reasonably comfortable that, beyond an acute catastrophe, the building will be safe from any additional harm.

We will keep you informed on our process including photos if the GSA will let us.

Crown of the Capital

Harris county courthouse continues. Even though we here at Professio have lots of projects going on, we are still hard at work getting all the ornamental plaster pieces ready for installation. Here I’m carving the very top of the large capital that will set high up in the rotunda.  I’m carving it out of clay and the design comes from other elements found in the courtroom. Notice the leaves are very deep. This unit will be located some 30 pluse feet from the first level you can view it from. And it will needs to be deep so that the designs can stand out from that distance.

After finishing the carving we will make a rubber mold of the element and then cast the four pieces out of gypsum plaster. Installation is scheduled to start soon and unfortunately the large capital may be the very first piece we are to start on. So the presser is on to get this piece and the large capital carved and into production.

I will update you again as we make the mold of this peace

Work Still On going on Harris

Work is still ongoing on the Harris County Courthouse. Here Dan Pogue our shop Forman and Matt2 are building the plaster capital that goes along the walls in the district courtroom. These have been totally lost in previous renovations of the courthouse. But there were historical photos that showed the element. The photos are not specifically of the capital so they are not totally in focus but at least we know what the basic shape and design are (kinda). We submitted drawings to Susan with Architexas the historical architect and she made some minor revisions and sent them back.

We are making what we call a model of the capital and then will take a picture and send it for approval before we make the mold. Rubber is expensive so before we pour the rubber mold we need to make sure the model is correct.

It never ceases to amaze me that when discussing anything, but especially items in 3d, how people can see things differently and how confusing it can be become to discuss it. You can think you are all talking about the same thing. You believe that everyone agrees to a specific design but when the final piece is made all of the sudden what was created was not what someone in the group thought we were talking about. So before we spend the money on making the rubber mold care is taken to ensure it is what everyone envisions as the correct finial design.

After finial approval we will start production of the capitals and ship them to the sight for installation.

Bead Run

Now we have run the base rail that the bead and reed sets on and we have cast the bead and reed elements that came from Matt2’s lathe work. Now all we need to do is install them in the rail taking care maintain.

After setting all the pieces we will paint the plaster using shellac . This will adhere the elements to the rail and seal the plaster. After that step then a little mold release and pour the rubber mold. If everything works as planed we will then have a mold to put in production to cast all the elements we need on sight.

"I can create this on the Lathe"

We are continuing to work on the missing elements in the entablature design that graces the top of the courtroom in Roberts County. There apparently was a piece that is what I call a bead and reed design. It runs eather at the top or bottom of the entablature. We know that it runs next to the factious leaf design that we put together because it was connected to the side of one of the larger pieces of that design. It is very full of paint and is very fragile so cleaning off the globs of paint would just destroy the only original piece of the element we have.

Matt, my son, came up with the ides of turning a new piece using a lathe. He set up the lathe and put two pieces of poplar wood together using double sided tape. Then he installed it into the lath and started slowing recreating the element using great care to exactly match the original piece. After carving out the design the then removed it from the lath and pulled the piece apart where it was stuck together this created two exactly matching pieces that were what we needed.

Ken and Dan in our shop also ran a run on the bench that represented the base of the element. They cut out a sheet of metal that matched the profile of the base of the original piece. Mounted it to a “Horse” and ren it along our run table slicing off the wet plaster until they were able to have a perfect base for our piece. They then hung it up to dry.

I poured a rubber mold of the bead and reed that Matt2 created. Ken in our shop will then cast me some pieces of the bead and reed and I will be able to put them together along the base and complete the model. I suspect that I will have all the elements to create the model be Thursday. I will cover the creation of the model when all the parts are ready to assemble.

Hay look these pices fit togeather!

The courthouse in Roberts county was built in 1913 with plans drawn by Elmer George Withers an architect originally working in Stamford Texas a town fairly close by. There are no records of him attending any school of architecture so it supposed he learned his trade either thru correspondence or apprenticeship. He later set up a Fort Worth office and became rather successful. There is said to be a twin of this courthouse in Marion County however there is no ornamental plaster in that courthouse. It is a shame because it would have been a big help if it was a total twin. We could have copied the elements from that courthouse instead of having to piece together these scrip fragments and interject the design.

Jhonny Langer of Source Design Studio (http://www.sourcehistory.com/) did a paint survey earlier in the year to determine the paint scheme and he did some preliminary design work trying to determine what was the original plaster design. He is a great source of historical designs and I trust his input probably more than anyone I have ever worked with. However after looking closely at the pieces my Son and I found one piece that fit together with another piece. Then after looking some more searching again another piece then fit to another. After 8 hours of studying the plaster pieces we had 4 pieces that fit together and we began to formulate a different design.

We found evidence of paint drips that hung on the surface which after studying the locations of the drips and their orientation meant that this piece might have been at a totally different spot on the design. We took pictures and wrote a short disruption and sent them off to Jjonny and are waiting for his input. If he agrees that this might have been the orientation then we will proceed to redraw the layout of the design and submit it to the architect and the Texas Historical Commission with our explanation of why we thing the ornamentation is designed the way we think it was. This can be a very contentious issue and care will need to be taken to insure we are right before we submit. I hate it when someone comes up with something I overlooked that changes the whole thing. But that is why it is important to have a different professional people studying the issue.

This is going to me more interesting than I first expected. But this is something that both my son and I love. Just hope it doesn’t drag on and on until a decision on the design is established.

Roberts County Courthouse

Professio by matt Henson Inc. has been contracted to perform the restoration of the plaster on the Roberts County Courthouse (http://www.co.roberts.tx.us/) in Miami Texas ( http://www.miamitexas.org ). The project manager is Grimes & Associates. (http://www.grimesengineering.com ) The project architect is Michel Peter with Preservation Associates (http://www.arch.ttu.edu/Architecture/Faculty/directory.asp?ID=38).

The ceiling in the courtroom had ornamental plaster on it. Unfortunately the courthouse sustained water damage and the plaster ceiling fell to the floor and along with it all the ornamental plaster. The pieces in the photo were sent to us to start the recreation of the ceiling. We have no good photos of the cornice work only these pieces which unfortunately do not show all aspects of the work. There will have to be some conjecture as to the continuation of the design.

I’ll keep you informed as to the progress of this interesting project.

Lights Camera, Action

Thursday I started making a mold of the left side of the major capitals that originally graced the four corners of the rotunda. This will give us a correct starting point for the recreation of the complete capitals. The center area is missing on all four capitals. By having a replica of both sides of the capital will give us a beginning. We are making a rubber mold of the original plaster surface and when complete we can then cast an exact replica of the original allowing us to set up each side on our work table in the shop in Lubbock without removing the original elements from the wall. It is a messy process spraying rubber on the surface. Especially since most of the capital is upside down.
The spray on rubber is a product of Smooth-on. It is a polyurethane rubber that comes in a kit designed to fit in their spray gun. Called easy spray 45. It has a mixing tube that correctly mixes the two components and sprays the prepared product on the surface. It sets up very fast so once you start you must continue without getting too thick and causing the rubber to run. It will take several coats to build up enough thickness and to fill in the undercuts. It however is very messy so I have taped up plastic around the edges and will wear protective clothing. This created a tough problem for some other professionals, the cameramen Jeffry Mills and Nash Baker.
They are producing a documentary on the restoration and wanted to film this part of the process. So they had to work around me 28 feet high up on the scaffold trying hard not to get the rubber on their expensive equipment and climbing all over the scaffolding trying to get the right angle to show the process. They even climbed up into the attic and shot out of a hole in the wall where an old ventilation duct used to be. They are true professionals and are passionate about their work.

Their company Io Communications is a documentary and corporate communications production company that specializes in historical and educational films. It is also involved in several broadcast documentaries for PBS through its nonprofit organization, Documentary Alliance org. Io is headquartered in Houston and was founded in 1983.

Io's involvement with the Harris County 1910 Courthouse restoration is to produce a one-hour documentary film and a coffee table book that documents and puts into historical context Harris County's restoration of this architectural gem in downtown Houston. Io was hired by Vaughn Construction who has had a long association with the country on construction projects and is this project's general contractor.

There team members include Jeffrey Mills, Producer/Director for the film and writer for the book, Barbara Mills, Animator for the film and Graphic Designer for the book, and Nash Baker (http://www.nashbaker.com) photographer for the book.

Harris Courthouse Pargework ceiling

Tuesday and Wednesday of last week I finely got to see how the lead paint removal was going. They had completed the removal on the sixth floor and Matt Bailey of Vaughn Construction had called a meeting with all concerned to discuss the issues at hand and to insure we were proceeding correctly. After viewing the area on the sixth floor I was relieved that extreme care had been taken and no damage to the plaster decorations was apparent. We discussed the edges of the paint where the loose paint was removed and the bonded paint was still adhered. On the ornamental plaster this did not seem to be a problem for me as only minor areas will require attention to repair but the flat wall plaster was going to have to require some additional work to make it look acceptable. The lead abatement contractor stated that the sealer he is using was white not clear. That created a problem as I needed to document the pattered ceiling that was left on the top floor. He gave me permission as long as I did not scrape on any substance and remove any paint.

This ceiling was not a part of the original construction originally the sixth floor was not finished out. It was finished out around 1915. The ceiling is a suspended flat plaster ceiling with plaster ornamentations installed to create an intricate ceiling. This type of ceiling called pargework or some times called Jacobean was very popular in the early 1900's. Ornamentation was installed directly to a flat ceiling to create a patterned panel look. This ceiling was outlined by a straight frame 6" away form the edge of the crown molding and then a alternating diamond and "cloverleaf" (My word as I don't know what the correct word for this design is) connected with straight runs of the same plaster molding. The ceiling extended along one side of the rotunda walkway approximately 40 feet long and 16 ft wide. However only an area approximately 12 by 16 is left and that area is severely deteriorated. (see Photo) The metal lath has rusted and is barely holding the weight of the plaster

I previously removed one complete diamond shape and ½ of the cloverleaf shape before any work was started because of my fear that these elements might be lost and they were the only elements available to recreate the ceiling. They came off almost too easily and it reassured me that that was the best procedure and any vibration would have caused these to fall to the ground and thus destroying the elements. You can see where the plaster ornamentation was installed by the white "ghosting" outline. The original elements were stuck to the ceiling using molding plaster or Plaster of Paris and then painted. So when they fell or was removed it leaves a clear definition of where they were installed. On one side there is still a portion of the original crown molding in place and you can see in some places its "ghosting line on the ceiling continuing around the outside of the ceiling. When the loose lead paint was removed you could also see the original layout lines that the original craftsmen used.

I stuck a clear Mylar sheet across the largest area of the ceiling keeping it square to the edge (see Photo). This allowed me to draw the outline of the ghosting and also draw the layout lines. After completing this I removed the Mylar sheet and stored it safely in a tube keeping it for use when the new ceiling in installed. I feel confident now I can correctly reinstall the ceiling and keeping the original layout as close as possible.

Pargwork ceiling sometimes called Jacobean

Cook County Courthouse- continued study of designs for Harris county courthouse

I was able to spend time yesterday talking with Gordon Marchant with Komatsu Architecture of Fort Worth Texas. He is the architect for the restoration of this courthouse in Gainsville Texas. I was able to talk to him about the designs at the courthouse. He provided me some photos of the plaster ornamentation. You can access them here. Just to remind this courthouse was designed by the same architectural firm and designer that worked on the Harris County courthouse.

You can see again the influence of Louis Sullivan in the plaster designs. You can see also the similarities of the capitals and the way they integrate into the skylight. I have seen this skylight in person also and it is stunning. Makes me a little apprehensive about seeing the Harris skylight after it is completed.

Description & History of the 1910 Harris County Courthouse

The 1910 Harris County Courthouse is one of the most significant historical buildings in Houston and is considered by some as one of the most significant historic courthouses in Texas. It is a classical domed building designed by a Dallas firm Lang and Wetchel. The firm was owned by Otto H. Lang and Frank O. Wetchel. They also designed two other Texas courthouses one the Cook County Courthouse in Gainesville and the other the Johnson County Courthouse in Cleburne Texas. The firm was a large, prolific and well respected firm located in Dallas at the turn of the century.

Otto Lang was born in Germany and trained as a structural engineer. Frank Wetchel, born in South Wales and completed his apprenticeship at the architectural firm Sanguinet and Staats alongside another famous Texas Architect, J. Reiley Gordon. However these two men were destined to play a back roll to one of their employees; Charles Erwin Barglebaugh, who trained with Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park and was a graduate of the Chicago School of Architecture.

The Six story building located in downtown Houston at the square outlined by Fannin, Congress, San Jacinto and Preston streets is a massive stone building complete with colonnades on each side. But in my option its true beauty lies almost in ruins inside the building.

The building had a marble lined center rotunda open from the first floor to the top of the building with massive plaster column capitals at the top and a skylight in the center. Around the rotunda at each level is a walkway that had plaster crown moldings and capitals. Unfortunately in the 1950's it was remodeled and the center opening was filled in at each floor. The remodeling caused massive damage to the plaster elements at each floor and especially at the top of the rotunda.

Most of the plaster elements in the building have at least one good piece that can be used to make a mold and cast the missing elements. However the center capitals at the top of the rotunda have the center missing at each one. Photos were solicited from every possible venue and some of the original drawings are available. It is going to be a monumental task to recreate these capitals. But we here at Professio are all about challenges.

The project also benefits from the experience of a historical architect Susan with Architexas in Austin who has diligently worked for several years trying to correctly identify the elements and create drawings to show the supposed design. Architexas is the largest preservation architectural firm in the state of Texas. The project also has the benefit of another very large architectural firm of PGAL who brings a nationwide expertise of courthouse construction and restoration to the mix. All of who have spent endless hours diligently researching this wonderful building.

When you look at the plaster ornamentation you can immediately see the influence of Louis Sullivan. Sullivan was very influential in the Chicago School of Architecture and taught Frank Lloyd Wright and as thus on to Charles Erwin Barglebaugh. Sullivan's designs were used all over the world. They are very identifiable because they are so complex and symbolic. The Art Institute's 2007 exhibition of Sullivan's ornamental designs reads "The drawings on view in this exhibition provide a rare glimpse of Sullivan's interpretation of the philosophical principles of ornament and its relationship to architecture and the natural world. Through the use of ornament, Sullivan believed, the architect could establish an organic connection linking the practical and rational aspects of building design and demonstrating the underlying similarities between the simple geometries of science and the curvilinear configurations of nature.." His use of stretched objects and complicated geometric designs stand out even today. Because of the ornamental plaster and terra cotta shops located in Chicago his designs ultimately were used all over the world in buildings that he had nothing to do with.

This is the second job where I have had to study Sullivan's designs. I was commissioned to recreate the courtroom in Brownsville Texas where most of the elements were missing. Only an old fuzzy photograph from the archives at the University of Texas shows the missing capitals. The photo was in focus on the subject that was in the center of the room unfortunately the column capitals were along the sides of the room and not part of the field of focus. This courthouse was designed my Altee B.Ayress. Mr. Ayress had also hired a designer George Rodney Willis that had worked with Frank Lloyd Wright. All the remaining plaster elements showed the same Sullivanistic style.

We are set to start recreating the elements in the near future. Drawings are now in progress, Rubber molds are being made of some of the elements that were removed and Matt Henson Sr. is scheduled to start making molds of the remaining elements on site soon. We will try and keep those of you who are interested in the progress of this challenging project abreast of the developments and progress photos will be uploaded to this site for your enjoyment.

Harris County Courthouse Photos

I have started a online photo album showing the Harris county courthouse. http://picasaweb.google.com/hensonplaster/HarrisCountyCourthouse?feat=directlink

It shows the existing conditions of the plaster elements. Of course there is only one photo or each different element each element is located all over each floor. So there is quite a bit of work ahead of us.

Harris county courthouse Architects rendering

Here is the rendering that Susan and her team at Architexas (http://architexas.com/) prepared for us. We will use it to start carving the center areas missing in the Capitals. Though the rendering is very well done it does not depict how much the element protrudes out from the wall. Remember this is a 3-D object and protrudes rather proudly from the wall plane. It is also not flat it will have deep recesses . They need to be deep because the element is extremely high and in order for the viewer to resister the details they need to be very prominent.

So now our work begins. In a few weeks I will be allowed on site. Right now construction crews are abating the lead paint and access is not allowed until the environmental consultant reports that it is safe to enter the building. I a little apprehensive as in the past damage to the plaster elements have occurred during this phase. We have cautioned all parties involved so we will see if they heed our warnings.

We will then set up scaffolding giving us close access to the object for the first time. We will then document further the element taking measurements and close up photographs. We will then make a rubber mold of the existing portions of the capital.

Then we will ship the mold to our shop in Lubbock Texas and our crew there will cast the elements. This will give us an accurate starting point to start creating the missing portion of the capital.

We will keep you posted of the time we will be onsite and update the blog with new photos as we get them.

matt

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