From the 2023 Educational Interiors Showcase: Wannalancit Stair Restoration
Nov. 15, 2023
The project was recognized as an outstanding design in the Historic Preservation category.
This project restores an existing semicircular wood egress stair at UMass Lowell’s historic Wannalancit Mills. The existing 100-plus-year-old stair had begun to sag over its years of heavy use and was no longer in compliance with the building code. The renovation maintains as much of the original stair as possible and provides new structural elements that replicate the original design. Existing architectural elements such as metal stair tread covers were restored. Those that were beyond repair were replicated. Molds for future repairs were provided to UMass Lowell. The finished product is a safe, compliant, secure egress stair restoring the historic character of the original Wannalancit Mill complex.
Read more about the Wannalancit Stair Renovation and view a photo gallery at SchoolDesigns.com.
