Mason Neck, VA

Gunston Hall Historic Mansion and Visitor Center Renovation

Scope of Services
Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Fire Protection (MEP/FP) Engineering
 

Gunston Hall Historic Mansion and Visitor Center highlight U.S. founding father George Mason’s civic career. To support Gunston Hall’s strategic goals of attracting a wider and more-diverse audience and growing its funding sources, the facilities needed to be updated to become more comfortable, accessible, safe, and adaptable and serve the community well into the future. This entailed upgrading both the mansion and visitor center to mitigate code and MEP system deficiencies and integrating better humidity controls into the visitor center to accommodate safe storage and presentation of artifacts from permanent and visiting exhibitions.

2RW Project Case Study Main Image
Services

2RW’s services for this historic renovation project, include:

  • The review of energy-use records to benchmark energy performance.
  • A site investigation to assess the conditions of the building systems to determine renovation viability and cost as part of the scope planning process.
  • MEP/FP engineering for the historic mansion, which included:
    • A house-preservation heating and cooling system to maintain the building envelope
    • A new fire protection system
  • MEP/FP engineering for the visitor center which included:
    • An HVAC system upgrade to a more energy-efficient system which fully tempers and treats outside air to improve indoor air quality and provide appropriate humidity and temperature control for exhibits
    • A new fire protection system
    • High-efficiency LED lighting
Results

The house-preservation heating and cooling system in the historic mansion minimizes large swings in temperature, prolonging the life of the building envelope.
Updates to the visitor center:

  • Increase occupant comfort levels with environmental controls and energy-efficient ventilation systems
  • Make the facility more attractive for visiting exhibits because the building‘s humidity and temperature systems better protect the artifacts
  • Provide a more-comfortable learning environment
Scope of Services
Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Fire Protection (MEP/FP) Engineering
 

OWNER: Gunston Hall

TIMEFRAME: 2016–2019

SIZE: 6,500 SF

COST: $2.5 million


Highlights

Historic Designation: U.S. National Register of Historic Places