Reconstruction Awards: Noble Chapel

Colma, Calif., is known as the “City of Souls”: 1½ million people are buried there. In May 2013, a major piece of that landscape, the 124-year-old Noble Chapel, suffered a three-alarm fire that almost completely destroyed its 1937 crematorium.

A Building Team led by ARG Conservation Services not only reconstructed the crematorium but also upgraded electrical, mechanical, heating, and fire sprinkler systems and replaced the roof.

Large stained glass windows were removed and sent to Los Angeles for restoration. This left the building vulnerable to weather conditions during construction, so the team shrink-wrapped the structure to guard against inclement weather. As portions of the building were finished and deemed weather-tight, the shrink wrap was removed and work proceeded on that section.

The project was completed five weeks ahead of schedule.

PROJECT SUMMARY 

Silver Award Winner | Colma, Calif.

Building Team: ARG Conservation Services (submitting firm, architect, GC); Cypress Lawn Memorial Park (owner/developer); SOHA Engineers (SE); LIST Engineers (ME), O’Mahony & Myer (EE), Gladding McBean (terra cotta consultant).

Details: 3,505 sf. Construction cost: $5.2 million. Construction time: February 2015 to October 2015. Delivery method: Design-build.