Pratt Institute

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York

Pratt Historic Preservation Master Plan Part 1 of 2 (PDF) 9.8MB

Pratt Historic Preservation Master Plan Part 2 of 2 (PDF) 139MB

Pratt Institute was founded in 1887 by leading Brooklyn industrialist Charles Pratt. It was one of the earliest schools established to provide education to the working class by providing a curriculum for the training of artisans, designers, architects, draftsmen, milliners, dressmakers, and other technicians. The list of designers engaged by Pratt included some of the most notable 19th-century architects of the day, including Lamb and Rich, and McKim, Mead, and White. The buildings represent significant examples of late 19th and 20th century Romanesque Revival, Renaissance Revival, and neo-Romanesque architecture. With grant support, Pratt will create a Historic Preservation Master Plan to guide campus preservation efforts.

Pratt Institute received a Getty grant in 2005 for $175,000 to support campus heritage planning.

Report Summary

Purpose: With grant support, Pratt will create a Historic Preservation Master Plan to guide campus preservation efforts for its noted architecture.

Historic Designation: Pratt Institute is already listed as a Historic District on the National and the New York Registers of Historic Places. Five buildings contributing to the Historic District are individually listed as New York City historic landmarks. Two buildings are listed on the National Register as contributing to the adjacent Clinton Hill Historic District.

Pratt’s significant examples of late nineteenth- and twentieth-century Romanesque Revival, Renaissance Revival, and neo-Romanesque architecture were designed by some of the most notable nineteenth-century architects of the day.

Planning Process Used

• Inventoried roughly two dozen buildings on the campus, tabulating history, use, landmark status
• Reviewed preservation and environment legislation at various levels—city, state, nation
• Gathered faculty and staff comments on campus characteristics
• Reviewed earlier preservation reports, excerpting recommendations consistent with the current report
• Created framing Principles for Campus Preservation after analyzing earlier reports to determine any consistent philosophies
• Recommended light levels for various campus locations after surveying campus and reviewing lighting industry standards for light and contrast
• Tabulated cost estimates by building, with separate estimates for exterior and interior restoration and repair
• Prioritized cost estimates, emphasizing work to enhance safety and building stabilization
• Color-coded work required for various buildings and landscapes, highlighting the distinction between immediate priorities, required work, and required maintenance
• Summarized data related to each significant building or landscape, noting design description, character-defining elements, use and alteration over time

Outcomes: Products

• Tabular presentation of building information, including architect, original use, status and eligibility for various historic designations, steps completed toward exterior restoration
• Recommendations for lighting and contrast levels
• Chapter devoted to an “Educational Component,” articulating educational opportunities from undergraduate through graduate work in architecture, construction/facilities management, historic preservation, building technology, and interventions, additions, alterations, and adaptive reuse

Outcomes: Plans

• Recognition of the project’s potential for increasing preservation-related fundraising beyond simply increasing preservation-related awareness
• Expand preservation instruction to include science peculiar to historic materials

Outcomes: Policies and Practices

• Chapter devoted to an “Educational Component,” articulating educational opportunities from department level through individual classes—specifically, Undergraduate and Graduate Departments of Architecture and Construction/Facilities Management, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, class in Building Technology, class in Interventions, Additions, Alterations, and Adoptive Reuse
• Recognition of the project’s potential for increasing preservation-related fundraising beyond simply increasing preservation-related awareness

Unique Features

• Engagement of an alumnus as project consultant
• Tabular presentation of building information, including architect, original use, status and eligibility for various historic designations, steps completed toward exterior restoration
• Recommendations for lighting and contrast levels
• Articulation of tradeoffs, e.g., if one impacts a street grid, then one must enhance . . . .
• Articulation of the potential conflict between LEED and preservation principles
• Recognition of the project’s potential for increasing preservation-related fundraising beyond simply increasing preservation-related awareness
• Sufficient information for a chapter devoted to an “Educational Component,” articulating educational opportunities from department level through individual classes—specifically, Undergraduate and Graduate Departments of Architecture and Construction/Facilities Management, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, class in Building Technology, class in Interventions, Additions, Alterations, and Adoptive Reuse
• Condition assessment with color-coded priorities for each building or landscape (red for immediate priorities; orange for required work; yellow for required maintenance)

Advisors: Consultants cite conversations with faculty and staff among their resources.