Title: Converting an Old Concrete Block Building to a Modern Office Building

Author(s): Zareh B. Gregorian and Garen B Gregorian

Publication: Concrete International

Volume: 22

Issue: 6

Appears on pages(s): 32-35

Keywords: concrete block; concrete masonry unit; grouting; reinforcement; foundation; shearwall

DOI:

Date: 6/1/2000

Abstract:
The landmark Bicycle Exchange Building located in the world-famous Harvard Square across the street from Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Mass., was purchased by new owners for conversion of the building to a travel agency catering to the much-traveled students and faculty of nearby Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, immediate area universities. The original building was a two-story wood frame building with a basement and a four-story nonreinforced concrete block building with wood floors at the rear portion of the building. The new owner’s requirements included: an office space at the front with an attractive entry and accessible sales areas on the lower floors; a cafeteria and exercise room for the employees; a two-story penthouse at the top of the existing four-story concrete block building for the owner’s residence; and an exercise pool in the basement, sinking the structure below the existing area to a secondary basement level.