There’s an inherent irony to SUPERSTRUCTURES’ work: a successful facade examination, restoration, and commissioning project often means you’d never know we were there in the first place. So we weren’t surprised that Masonry Design’s recent article on the restoration of 280 Broadway (aka The Sun Building) didn’t mention our role in the comprehensive restoration of the building. We’ll take that invisibility as a sign of another successful project.

In 2014 (LL11/ FISP Cycle 7), SUPERSTRUCTURES conducted an investigation of the building’s exterior to identify a long list of facade deficiencies including cracked, spalling brick, deteriorated cast iron, and extensive “sugaring” in the Tuckahoe marble. That inspection provided a roadmap for a $17.8 million restoration of the National Historic Landmark.

Subsequently, we provided quality assurance / commissioning during the restoration process, including: regular site visits to review completed work before the building’s pipe scaffolding was dismantled; numerous field reports for observed FISP non-compliant items for each reviewed area; and preparation and filing of FISP Cycle 7 Amended and Cycle 8 Initial reports with the Department of Buildings.

We’re proud to have been a partner—however silent—in the rejuvenation of this National Historic Landmark which won a 2020 Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy. Shrouded in scaffolding for over a decade, the Italianate splendor of the building is again evident for those who work in and visit the building.

Survey similar projects here.