New York City's Local Law 10 stipulates replacement of damaged or compromised terra cotta and masonry unit cladding or trim on historic structures of five stories and higher. Over the past two decades, it has gradually fueled a market for two specialized concretes whose labor intensity is offset by unit costs measured in dollars per pound, not tons or yards.

The Big Apple's emerging leader in cast stone and glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) is Towne House Restorations Inc. Founded 15 years ago, THR has grown from an upscale residential remodeling contractor to a turnkey provider — consultant and fabricator — in a business where most decisions are made by committees of building owners, architects, engineers and, above all, city officials.

“Local Law 10 has required the owners to replace all or parts of historic building façades with oversight from the New York City Landmarks Commission,” explains THR's Alan Barr, president and founder. “Natural weathering and decades of exposure have aged classic architecture and, in some extreme instances, posed safety concerns from falling debris. This leaves city officials with no choice but to have a strong program for inspection and façade retrofit.”

When fabricated in accordance with Cast Stone Institute standards, he adds, cast stone is the most economical means of satisfying architects' requirements for terra cotta, limestone and brownstone replacement. THR's cast stone contracts are split about 80/10/10 between terra cotta and the natural stones, with 90 percent of all product weighing under 250 lbs. Highly ornate trim or sculptures (i.e., Medusa images, cupids, gargoyles) might require GFRC fabrication, a side specialty to THR's main thrust in wet cast, individually molded product.

Terra cotta was used abundantly in pre-war New York. THR records indicate that at the peak of the 1920s, there were four or five plants operating within the NYC metropolitan area alone. From the size of cladding pieces requiring replacement under Law 10 guidelines, those plants appear to have had very limited kiln dimensions.

On a typical contract requiring full or substantial façade replacement, THR might be called upon to prepare several hundred molds, mostly of laminated particle board and urethane liner design, with little or no duplication or re-use factor. Perhaps the most complicated among the 1,100-plus jobs on the company's log was a cladding contract for the New York City Ritz Carlton Hotel. A combination of replacement pieces for existing façade and matching components for newly built levels, it called for assembly of more than 700 molds to create 5,500 pieces.

ARTISTIC PURSUIT

An accomplished concrete practitioner is not a surprise coming from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., given its strong civil engineering program. But instead of materials and structures, early 1980s NU grad Alan Barr studied industrial engineering. On his journey to concrete, the Long Island, N.Y., native made a stop in corporate America at New York City's Chase Manhattan Bank. On the side, he pursued home improvement under the Towne House Restorations banner, spending much time in Brooklyn neighborhoods where gentrification was carrying over from the 1980s to the 1990s.

Ten years ago, Barr hooked up with his current production manager Philip Gallagher, a Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (Philadelphia) graduate. He had ventured to New York City with a painting career in mind. To help pay rent, he applied his carpentry skills to mold making, an integral process in the application of ornamental plaster to the retrofit of historic New York residences and commercial buildings.

As part of his training in sculpture, Gallagher had worked with concrete and brought THR insight on mix designs, color matching and product fabrication. That enabled the company to move quickly to become a leader in cast stone and GFRC, demand for which was growing as a result of Law 10.

In addition to its original business plan, THR has also outgrown the cramped quarters that housed a barrel mixer and other crude equipment from which it got a start in concrete. Earlier this year, the company moved from Queens area Maspeth to a nearby three-level, 30,000-sq.-ft. loft building and yard in Brooklyn. Built with signature brick walls and timber supports, the facility houses offices, drafting stations, a mold shop, large indoor storage space and a production shop. Staff includes a draftsman, seven artists, carpenters and mold makers, and about fifteen production workers who handle cast stone molding, demolding, finishing and packaging, along with the spray-on GFRC crew, and a flatbed delivery driver.

Limited exposure to concrete has not prevented Alan Barr from growing Towne House Restorations into a full-bore, Cast Stone Institute-certified producer with additional GFRC capabilities. As an industrial engineer, he might not have found a better segment of concrete to ply his trade than highly labor-intensive cast stone. Barr splits his time between the new Brooklyn office and plant and calling on architects, engineers and building owners. Among THR loyalists is Beyer Blinder Belle, a major New York architectural firm charged with the design preliminaries in World Trade Center rebuilding.

When painter, sculptor and THR plant manager Philip Gallagher was looking for restoration contracting work, he saw THR as a shop capable of transitioning from a partly concrete and partly ornamental plaster shop to one wholly devoted to specialty precast. Gallagher's skills set — combining concrete production, sculpting and mold making — dovetails with that of THR's founder. Gallagher capped off THR's ornamental plaster contracting with the restoration of New York City's Ed Sullivan Theater. He and “300-some other contractors” were guests at the first staging of the venue's main occupant, David Letterman.