The Memorial Reception Building is one of the most sacred and historic military sites in the country. The New York firm Carrere and Hastings designed the building in 1915 to commemorate our nation’s significant battles and help heal the wounds of the Civil War. Today, it forms the backdrop for the Tomb of the Unknowns; the President addresses the nation on Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day in the building’s amphitheater and foreign heads of state pay homage to our nation by laying wreaths at the Tombs of the Unknown during their visits to Washington, DC. The Army Corps of Engineers acted as the contracting agent for Arlington National Cemetery and together they articulated four key goals for the project:

1. Solving rainwater infiltration problems in the building at the lower level of the Crypt Chapel and second floor in the Awards Rooms
2. Redesigning and modernizing the Tomb Guard Quarters
3. Replacing certain key building systems
4. Bringing the building up to current building code requirements

A key value that we added to the project was our decades of experience restoring significant historic structures and the ability to explain to the client that they could accomplish all of these goals while restoring the building’s monumental interior spaces. As an outcome, the work required to achieve the four project goals as well as the interior restoration required no additional cost to the client. A new copper roof was installed to remedy a portion of the water infiltration problems in the building stemming from the roof. The other portion was due to the historic configuration of the stone balustrades at the roof level and the design of the built-in gutters, which had no provision for overflow if a drain became clogged. Using traditional copper roofing materials and standards, we created a series of secondary drains with state-of-the-art flow alarms that were connected to the building automation system. To ensure that there would be space to install the secondary drains, the contractor conducted probes at specific locations. Once in place the alarm mechanism senses if water overflow passes through the secondary drains and alerts the maintenance staff immediately. Since the roof is hard to reach, this remote monitoring system allows the building to become smarter and actually communicate with maintenance staff when it needs help in a critical area. Once the roof leaks were resolved, our next step was to begin work on the building’s interiors. All of the key elements of the Carrere and Hastings original design were largely intact, including the Botticino marble floors and columns, plaster crown moldings and coffered ceilings and wood windows and doors. In many cases, there was minor damage that needed to be repaired, such as plaster that needed to be replaced due to water infiltration or small sections of stone that needed to be repaired. Perhaps the biggest aesthetic issue was that aside from the marble, the building’s original interior color scheme had been modified by many layers of contradictory paint colors. The biggest technical challenge was installing all of the new building systems and code-related devices without modifying or altering the design intent. Hidden beneath these aesthetic improvements are all of the new building systems. Our approach was one of minimalism. We focused on providing the required systems with minimal visual intrusion to the historic elements and minimal alteration of the building’s historic fabric. We planned very carefully where new devices were to be located, so as to not obscure the historic architecture or compete with important vistas or elements. One example of our work on the building’s interior is the improvements designed for the Crypt Chapel, which is one of the building’s most spectacular spaces. Riddled by water infiltration and in need of major restoration, we incorporated new lighting into the vaulted ceiling that is both modern and miniature, so that they are not confused with the true historic elements and do not detract from the space, but instead allow the short Doric columns and altar with Auguste St. Gaudens sculpture to be illuminated perfectly. Meanwhile, the water infiltration was solved by reconstructing the stage and adding new waterproofing on the outside of the building. The success of this project results from our collaboration with the design/build contractor and their skilled craftsmen, as well as our design philosophy and approach. We combined ideas of minimalism with traditional materials and craftsmanship and employed modern technology to aid the building’s performance while improving how the building will be maintained into the future.