Municipal Grand

Due to its location on Broughton Street, a popular shopping area for tourists and locals alike, Municipal Grand required extensive preplanning and logistical coordination between the project team, city officials, and trade partners. The team maintained a tight site with little room for material storage or laydown, prioritizing safety with hundreds of pedestrians passing by each day.

The project scope included comprehensive demolition and abatement, structural modifications, new interior framing, and the installation of custom millwork, while preserving and restoring a remarkable collection of historic elements. These included terrazzo floors, original railings, granite wall finishes, mail chutes, radiators, teller stations, vault doors, light fixtures, storefront windows, and exterior masonry, granite, and stucco façades.

The team worked closely with Lynch Associates Architects and Ward Architecture + Preservation to identify and protect character-defining features prior to demolition, using a color-coded labeling system and detailed site walks to ensure irreplaceable elements remained intact throughout construction.

One of the most technically complex challenges was the addition of a rooftop swimming pool and amenity deck. The existing roof structure was never designed to support the loads associated with a pool or occupancy. 

To address this, the concrete structure beneath the roof was selectively modified to accommodate new reinforcing steel, and a steel “nest” was constructed on the roof deck to support the pool. The stainless-steel swimming pool was fully prefabricated offsite, including tile finishes, and installed in a single piece using a crane, minimizing disruption to the historic structure while achieving a modern amenity.

Another significant challenge was the installation of a new egress stair shaft within a former stack of restrooms to meet current life-safety codes. This required removing approximately 164 SF of structural concrete on every level from the rooftop to the basement.

The building was carefully shored with an engineered support system, and demolition was executed using a large concrete saw and crane with meticulous sequencing to protect surrounding historic fabric. This solution allowed the project to meet code requirements while preserving primary character-defining interior spaces.