Journal of Architectural Conservation
Volume 17, Issue 3, November 2011
Cast-Iron Façades as Structural Shear Walls
Marie Ennis and Donald Friedman
Paper Summary
Cast-iron façades hold a unique place in the history of North American buildings. Their introduction in the 1840s marked the first systematic replacement of traditional masonry façade materials, and the first large-scale use of an industrial product in construction. Cast iron therefore marks the beginning of modern structures even though its use predates modern structural analysis and construction techniques. For instance, the peak of cast-iron façade use in North America – 1860 to 1875 – predates the development of skeleton frames and most of the analytic techniques used for skeleton structures. A lack of analytical data means the preservation of buildings with cast-iron façades requires a holistic understanding of how these façades function.
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Figure 10 Deteriorated conditions. Pieces of the cast-iron façade began falling into the street as a result of lack of maintenance.
Figure 11 Entablature bracket detail. A single bracket attached to the outboard building columns supports the cast-iron entablature measuring 8 ft (2.4 m) long. The majority of these connections had failed.
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Marie Ennis, PE, BSc, MSc
Marie Ennis is a Principal with Old Structures Engineering, PC, a structural engineering consulting firm for historic and old buildings, and has over 24 years experience. She manages multiple projects at her office, and has spoken recently at professional conferences such as the Association for Preservation Technology, the National Association of Building Inspection Engineers and the Construction History Society. She is currently collaborating to develop a preservation engineering course at Manhattan College.
Donald Friedman, PE, BSc, MA
Donald Friedman is a Principal with Old Structures Engineering, PC, and has over 20 years experience. He has helped develop the field of conservation engineering – building evaluation and design that conforms to the core values of both structural engineering and historic preservation. In addition, he has taught engineering of historic buildings and spoken at numerous conferences.
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