Partners:
Architect: Ziger/Snead
Structural Engineer: Robert Silman Associates
Civil Engineer: Morris & Ritchie Associates
General Contractor: The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
The renovation and expansion of the Fred Lazarus IV Center transformed 1801 Falls Road into a state-of-the-art facility for the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), the state’s only higher education institution devoted exclusively to the arts. Located in Baltimore’s Station North Arts District, the project involved adapting a turn-of-the-20th-century Morgan Millwork Company warehouse into a 33,000-square-foot, three-story home for MICA’s sculpture school. The upgraded facility now houses sculpture studios, wood and metal shops, offices, classrooms, and flexible open-plan studio spaces, as well as specialized systems for a paint spray booth, welding, and wood fabrication with dust collection. The project also incorporated advanced lighting controls and extensive structural upgrades, earning a 2015 Historic Preservation Award for Adaptive Reuse & Compatible Design from Baltimore Heritage.
D.W. Kozera, Inc. (DWK), serving as the Geotechnical Engineer of Record, provided the subsurface investigation and engineering recommendations needed to adapt a historic building for modern technical use, including recommendations for underpinning and new foundations. The subsurface profile included variable man-placed fill up to nine feet thick, remnants of alluvial deposits, and dense residual soils over bedrock. Recognizing the variability of site soils, DWK continued geotechnical observation during construction to evaluate subsurface conditions and adapt solutions in real time.
The project was completed under a six-month fast-track schedule, requiring tight coordination among all parties. DWK provided construction-phase testing and observation services to confirm that foundation installation and earthwork met project specifications.
This combination of historic preservation and technical adaptation highlights DWK’s ability to deliver geotechnical solutions that support both the preservation of existing structures and the creation of advanced instructional environments.
