LEWIS STORE
CLIENT
The Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. 

LOCATION
Fredericksburg, Virginia

STRUCTURE
The Lewis Store is one of the oldest surviving urban retail buildings in the United States. It was constructed in 1749 by John Lewis, a leading Virginia merchant and planter. Lewis was the brother in law of George Washington, as he married Washington’s sister, Elizabeth. The building is distinguished by the use of stone quoins at the corners, a feature rarely seen in small brick buildings, and carved stone lintels. These and other design elements make the Lewis Store an architecturally important urban store surviving from the colonial era. Our involvement was initiated in 2005 and the improvements were completed in 2006. 

CHALLENGE
We were retained by the HFFI to investigate and determine the structural condition of the Lewis Store. The focus of the investigation was to assess and calculate the load capacity for expanded use of the second floor, second floor corridor, stairwells, and the attic space. The Historical Foundation plans to operate a replica of an eighteenth-century store in the first floor of the restored store as an innovative historical and educational attraction. The second floor was reinforced in order to be occupied as office space for HFFI. The project also involved upgrades to the attic area, electrical and mechanical improvements, and construction administration.

SCOPE OF SERVICE
  • Conducted several site visits in order to assess and determine the load capacity of the second floor timber joists.
  • Removed portions of the floor boards in order to measure existing framing members.
  • Determined that the second floor summer beam was not capable of withstanding the proposed occupancy loads.
  • Determined that the attic framing needed to be laterally braced.
  • Devised a timber nailer system to level the second floor.
SOLUTION
  • Designed an intricate steel truss system, capable of withstanding live and dead loads totaling 125 psf, to reinforce the summer beam.
  • Provided construction documents that detailed an articulated truss consisting of a series of turnbuckles, clevises, threaded rods, and steel plates.
  • The trusses were designed to relieve the existing summer beam of the incoming loads from the joists.
  • Provided construction details to level the second floor, raising the floor a total of ten inches.
  • The design required minimal alteration to the original framing and each individual truss was fine-tuned by the precise tightening of a turnbuckle.
  • Provided architectural finishes consistent to that of the previously renovated first floor.
HISTORIC STATUS
The Lewis Store is on the National Registry of Historic Places.