American Chemical Society AMA: I’m Brian Hogg, the Senior Historic Preservation Planner at the University of Virginia (UVA). Ask me anything about restoring old buildings, like a 19th century chemistry hearth we recently discovered.

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Hi Reddit! I am Brian Hogg and I’m the Senior Historic Preservation Planner at the University of Virginia (http://ift.tt/29bgz7C). I work with a small group of colleagues to plan, design, and execute renovation projects on the buildings that Thomas Jefferson designed for the University of Virginia, as well as for other historic buildings on Grounds (we don’t call it a campus).

The Academical Village (Jefferson’s term) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (http://ift.tt/1FnWscF), a National Historic Landmark (http://ift.tt/29bgxg5), and is on the Virginia Landmarks Register. One of my current projects is the renovation of the Rotunda, which Jefferson designed as a classroom and library, the physical and intellectual centerpiece of this place. The building has a complicated history – additions, a fire, a renovation, another renovation – but through that we’ve tried hard to find a balance between preserving its historic character while adding enough amenities and equipment to make it function well in a 21st century academic environment. The renovation work has also been a blend of traditional techniques and materials with modern ones. For instance, we replaced the 16 exterior marble capitals with new ones that were carved on six-axis CNC machines. It took three weeks of carving 24/7 to rough them out on the machines, and another three to finish them by hand.

There have been some discoveries, like our chemistry hearth and the design of the original north elevation (http://ift.tt/291KjH9), as well as a few surprises. The project will wrap up before the start of classes this fall – August 23, 2016, a non-negotiable deadline. I graduated from UVA, and got a degree in historic preservation from Columbia. Before returning to the University in 2004, I spent 17 years on the regulatory staff of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

As we approach the 4th of July, Ask Me Anything about restoring buildings at a University designed by one of the USA’s Founding Fathers, or anything else about the restoration and preservation of old structures.

I’ll be back at 3:00pm EDT to answer your questions!

">American Chemical Society AMA: I’m Brian Hogg, the Senior Historic Preservation Planner at the University of Virginia (UVA). Ask me anything about restoring old buildings, like a 19th century chemistry hearth we recently discovered.