Quinn Evans’ rehabilitation of Old City Hall, a National Historic Landmark in Richmond, Virginia, has been honored with a Palladio Award from Traditional Building.
The Palladio Awards program celebrates outstanding achievement in traditional design. A jury of design practitioners and architecture critics selected Old City Hall as the 2024 winner in the Commercial—Renovation and Restoration Over 30,000 Square Feet category.
Our design for Old City Hall restores the original grandeur and appearance of the 1894 building while integrating new systems and infrastructure, sensitively weaving a contemporary workplace for multiple state agencies into historic spaces.
The building’s last renovation, which took place in the 1980s, superimposed a polychrome paint scheme throughout the major historic spaces. Based on historical finish analyses, our design restores the original palette: off-white plaster walls and ceilings, oak woodwork, and painted wood graining on cast iron elements in the atrium. We also restored the atrium laylight and replaced the skylight above with an energy-efficient reproduction.
Our work included replacing all major building systems, addressing water damage, and restoring the masonry envelope. Wood window sashes and frames were restored and provided with glazing film and interior storms to improve thermal performance. In addition, a new visually compatible ramp at the building’s west entrance provides an equitable entry experience for people with mobility challenges.
The award will be officially presented in June during the Traditional Building Conference in Hanover, New Hampshire.
