AUGUST 2009 » book review

Can This Building Be Saved?

Building Evaluation for Adaptive Reuse and Preservation
by J. Stanley Rabun and Richard M. Kelso
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ; 2009
240 pp; hardcover; over 200 illustrations; $110
ISBN 978-0-470-10879-6

Reviewed by Clem Labine

By selecting such a broad, comprehensive title for the book, the authors set themselves a daunting challenge: To cover the entire field of historic building inspection and economic appraisal in 240 pages. Fortunately, in the preface and introduction, the authors quickly narrow down the scope of their mission to a more realistic goal: To provide a comprehensive, systematic method for doing an inexpensive first-pass analysis of an older building to determine its economic viability for a particular new adaptive use. The purpose of the book is to lay out a rapid, low-cost system for winnowing out obviously inappropriate buildings before too much time and money is spent on detailed investigations and design development.

The target readers are real estate developers, architects, contractors and building owners – and it will be especially helpful to those who are unfamiliar with the peculiarities and pitfalls of older and historic buildings. By following the procedures laid out in the book, a potential new owner can get a rough idea of what it will take to get a building’s systems up to modern standards, plus a rough estimate of the renovation cost and potential profitability in the contemplated new use.

The authors are professional engineers and their training shows in the methodical way they have structured both their analytical technique and the book itself. The text is organized by the basic systems that, taken together, comprise a functional building. The major systems treated are: structural, electrical, mechanical and plumbing – and ways in which these systems can interact. The authors are quick to acknowledge than a specialist in any one of these four areas can provide a more in-depth analysis than is possible in this survey volume. The intention rather is to provide the non-specialist with a checklist of ALL the items and issues that should be addressed when a building is being considered for renovation and adaptive reuse. Because of the multiple systems covered, the text also provides specialists in one area with points to be aware of outside their zone of expertise.

After the four major building system components are discussed, the book then offers a major chapter on "Pro Forma Analyis" (more on this later), and a chapter on materials and systems testing. As might be anticipated in a book about building forensics, this is not a glitzy coffee-table tome. The illustrations are a combination of reprinted line drawings from early-20th century building texts plus (mostly grainy) black-and-white photos. There is an eight-page form of full-color images, but they seem to be there primarily so the publisher could claim that the volume "contains color."

The first 25 pages that deal with "architectural character" will not hold much that is new for those who have any familiarity with older buildings. And while much of it may be helpful to newcomers who have no knowledge of historic structures, there are also a few parts that might be misleading to novices – especially the use of the term "landmark structures." The authors use the term "landmark" to designate buildings that are National Historic Landmarks – a relatively small number of buildings. There are a far greater number of buildings that are "landmarks" in local historic districts, and these are governed by entirely different regulations, which vary greatly from locality to locality.

The chapters dealing with the four major building systems have the same general organization. Each begins with a brief chronological history of technical developments in that system area. This is followed by guidance to help the evaluation team determine what historical type of system the building under consideration contains, along with advice on evaluating the performance of that system and its suitability for continued use in the new purpose. Each system chapter then recommends options for replacement or upgrades should the existing system be deemed unsalvageable.

There is a short chapter about the importance of sustainable design, but – like the color form – its once-over-lightly coverage seems to have been dictated primarily by the publisher’s desire to assert: "Sustainability – got that covered!"

Because this book is primarily a comprehensive checklist attempting to cover all the technical and economic factors that go into evaluating the renovation potential of an older building, it is limited in the amount of space that can be devoted to any individual topic – and the authors freely acknowledge that fact. They are aware that a specialist in any given area is sure to say: "But the authors don’t cover (fill in the blank)."

For example, there are a few paragraphs devoted to a discussion of "terra-cotta architecture," along with some line drawings of terra-cotta arches and fireproofing systems. But for a developer evaluating a building with a terra-cotta façade, there is little guidance on potential pathology – beyond the brief observation that moisture and freeze-thaw cycles can be a problem. There are no drawings, for instance, showing details of typical historic terra-cotta cladding systems – and no discussion of the types of problems that can arise, such as cracked and spalled units and rusted-out anchors.

Because of the limits posed by the availability of illustrations from vintage books, some of the images show examples from residential construction, rather than commercial or industrial buildings. Because the adaptive reuse projects being discussed almost invariably involve commercial buildings, the inclusion of residential images seems a bit disconcerting.

The highlight of the book for many will be the "Pro Forma Analysis" that allows a potential developer to do a first-pass estimate of a renovated building’s potential payout. Here the authors go into considerable detail for building a preliminary financial model for a possible renovation and adaptation of a particular building. They show how to create a 230-line Excel spreadsheet, outlining not only the factors to be included, but also providing cell formats and formulas to be embedded as well.

Upon completion of the "Pro Forma Analysis" of a particular building, the prospective investor/developer should be able to decide whether to proceed with a more detailed – and more expensive – forensic investigations, design development and economic analysis, or whether you should move on to evaluate the next building on the list. TB

Clem Labine is the founder of Old-House Journal, Traditional Building and Period Homes magazines. He has received numerous awards, including awards from The Preservation League of New York State, the Arthur Ross Award from Classical America and The Harley J. McKee Award from the Association for Preservation Technology (APT). Labine was a founding board member of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America (ICA&CA). He served on the board until 2005 when he moved to Board Emeritus status. His blog can be found at www.traditional-building.com.

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