Warehouse Turned Suave Social Club

The historic, unreinforced masonry warehouse underwent significant renovations to become The Battery—a premier social club. Holmes worked with the design team to deliver a seismic retrofit and fire & life safety solution that was sensitive to the building’s historic fabric while instilling a modern and sleek ambiance. Holmes’ retrofit and fire and life safety upgrades preserved The Batter’s heritage while bringing it up to code for major assembly usage.

Holmes utilized performance-based engineering to developed a seismic retrofit scheme for The Battery in accordance with ASCE 41-06. Holmes developed a 3D finite element model of the building based on the original drawings and extensive material testing. The model demonstrated the building’s response to earthquakes, allowing for rapid evaluation of concepts that kept the masonry exposed.

Holmes’ performance-based engineering provided fire & life safety with alternatives shown to be equivalent or better than code requirements allowing for the dramatic design. Holmes developed alternative solutions for the internal grand stair to allow its non-fire rated glass enclosure. Other solutions were developed to address external wall openings, fire safety for the rooftop assembly space.

New features include a fourth floor penthouse serving as a scenic event space, as well as an open air plaza and basement gym. A dramatic, glass-enclosed hanging steel staircase provides new circulation between levels.