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After a decade-long restoration effort led by Rogers Krajnak Architects (RKA), the Sullivan Building—realized by Louis Sullivan in 1914 as the headquarters of the Home Building Association Bank—reopened last October as a new visitors center for the city of Newark, Ohio. The corner structure, one of the influential designer’s eight Midwestern “jewel box” banks (so called for their ornate decorative elements), changed hands many times over the last century until it was eventually donated to the Licking County Foundation in 2013.

Photo © Brad Feinknopf, click to enlarge.

RKA began with an overhaul of a lower-level section that extends beneath the sidewalk, installing a new steel structure and waterproofing system. With the help of a team of consultants, it embarked on restoring the exquisite original features. The terra-cotta facade and mosaics were repaired and cleaned, with badly broken and missing pieces reproduced, and the windows were releaded. RKA looked to Sullivan’s construction drawings to re-create the main entrance, which a previous tenant had moved to the corner.

Photo © Brad Feinknopf

Photo © Brad Feinknopf

In the next phase of the project, the interiors were renewed. An adjacent historic structure became the circulation core, which enabled RKA to bring the Sullivan Building up to code without encroaching on its floor plan. Murals on the walls and ceilings were mended, with some degraded sections left intentionally untouched, reflecting RKA’s commitment to executing an honest restoration. “It’s celebrating that we saved it, but it’s also telling the story of what happened,” says principal Darryl Rogers.

With its gilded trim, opalescent glass, and sunlight coming through the south facade, adds principal Peter Krajnak, the hall “glows gold.”

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