32 East 64th Street - the “Verona”

All Work | 32 East 64th Street, New York, NY

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32 East 64th Street

New York, New York

Scope

The historic “Verona” apartment build­ing was constructed in 1908 and is located in Man­hattan’s Upper East Side Historic District. Designed in the Italian Renaissance style by William Mowbray, the building is a vigorous composition of limestone, brick and terra-cotta, but perhaps the building’s most distinctive feature is a monumental eight-foot-high articulated sheet metal cornice that projects seven-feet from the structure’s main facade.

The Verona’s board engaged JHPA, Inc. to prepare a con­ditions survey of the building’s exterior and make repair recommendations for the visibly deteriorated cornice. Much of the metal was cracked, perforated and loosely anchored, posing a threat to pedestrians. An obvious solution would have been to replace the cornice. However, a close inspection revealed that, despite its poor condition, much of the cornice’s un­derlying structure and facing was sound. JHPArchitects PC created an afford­able restoration plan that combined the reinforcement of salvageable elements and replication, in-kind and only when necessary, of other components. The intervention work also included methods for cleaning and partial repointing of the building’s ma­sonry facade, reconstruction of the parapet and re­placement of deteriorated terra-cotta balustrade elements.

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