The Port Sulphur Government Building received significant damage during hurricane Katrina in 2005, and renovations began in 2007. The architect selected for this renovation was Yeates & Yeates Architects, LLC. and the job was awarded to DBR/ DRC General Contractors. Central City Millworks, a New Orleans millworks company, was chosen as the contractor, and began production in early 2008.
After a long shop drawing process we were finally able to capture and portray the vision of the architect. Upon approval we were ready to begin the project. We first removed every window sash in the building. 59 windows! We brought them back to our New Orleans mill shop, stripped, repaired, patched, primed and sometimes fabricated replacements for each window. The sashes were then upgraded to a storm rated safety plate glass, glazed in the traditional manner, and reinstalled in full working condition.
Following the window repairs, we began making new storm shutters for every opening, including some of the doors. We ended up fabricating 64 shutters in total. These were made to replicate the nonstandard, yet original shutters that were previously on the building. Unfortunately there were no shutters left to use as a sample, hence the reason for the lengthy shop drawing process. So much is the case for most of the detail work on this project.
Other missing items that we had to replicate included the front doors and an oculus. The front doors were especially difficult because the shop drawings came directly from the blueprints from which the building was originally built. Typically exterior doors nowadays measure 1 ¾” in thickness, but this one measures 2 1/8” thick. In addition, the panel edges and the rails were on different planes of the stiles. We constructed them in a very nontraditional way so much so that we can only wonder if the original door were even built exactly like those original plans. Regardless, we figured it out and were able to please two architects in the process!
The palladium transom is right above the doors in the center of the photo
The palladium transom above the doors was originally not included in the bid, but the decision was made for us to fabricate a new transom from white oak to better match the doors. Well, we ended up not only making a new transom, but we made it to fit the original glass sizes. This meant that we had to include all of the imperfections of the original and truly recreate it exactly like the original. Needless to say it was very fun…. and challenging.
Please enjoy the following posts and photos of our millwork job in Port Sulphur:
White Oak Paneled Lobby
Custom Cabinet Pass Through
Attic Oculus
Custom Entry Cabinet
