This week during debris removal, a row of 15-foot cast iron columns were discovered within the front wall of the building.
The 11 columns support a concrete beam, which supports 45 feet of brick wall above.
These columns are a welcome discovery because not only they are they elegantly and beautifully designed but they also add more structural integrity to the brick portion of the building.
According to old photographs, the columns were boxed in within the facade sometime after the 1920s, and over time the front section of the building was pushed out and the two entries were recessed in. This photo of the Hotel from the 1910s shows the columns exposed to the street (highlighted in red.)
A plaque at the corner of the building announces that the columns were made by O’Connell & Lewis, a popular and reputable iron business in San Francisco during the late 19th century.
Cast iron columns were popular in the late 1800s because they were a quick and efficient, non-combustive material. Also because of their compressive strength they allowed front facades to be opened up with large windows, letting in natural daylight. The columns could be made from a mold in a factory and then shipped to a site with little onsite labor. These cast iron columns are a prominent example of prefabrication and mass production, ideas that were just blossoming when the Palace was built.
For the renovation we aim to bring the facade of the 1891 building as close to its original state as possible, which would include pushing the first floor facade back a few feet to expose the columns once again, and replicating the original window and door placements of the first floor. This will not be an easy task, but it will be worth it in the end because it will open up the columns to the street and will preserve an aesthetic and ideal of an era that has passed.
These columns are a welcome discovery because not only they are they elegantly and beautifully designed but they also add more structural integrity to the brick portion of the building.
According to old photographs, the columns were boxed in within the facade sometime after the 1920s, and over time the front section of the building was pushed out and the two entries were recessed in. This photo of the Hotel from the 1910s shows the columns exposed to the street (highlighted in red.)
A plaque at the corner of the building announces that the columns were made by O’Connell & Lewis, a popular and reputable iron business in San Francisco during the late 19th century.
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| Plaque says "Architecture Iron Works, O'Connel & Lewis, 238 Steward Street, SF" |
Cast iron columns were popular in the late 1800s because they were a quick and efficient, non-combustive material. Also because of their compressive strength they allowed front facades to be opened up with large windows, letting in natural daylight. The columns could be made from a mold in a factory and then shipped to a site with little onsite labor. These cast iron columns are a prominent example of prefabrication and mass production, ideas that were just blossoming when the Palace was built.
For the renovation we aim to bring the facade of the 1891 building as close to its original state as possible, which would include pushing the first floor facade back a few feet to expose the columns once again, and replicating the original window and door placements of the first floor. This will not be an easy task, but it will be worth it in the end because it will open up the columns to the street and will preserve an aesthetic and ideal of an era that has passed.
