Press House Apartments
Press House Apartments
National Paint and Drywall
Press House Apartments
St. Paul, MN
5th US Trophy Contestant
Originally built in 1955, Pioneer Press housed the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper for several decades. It is a prominently located building in the heart of St. Paul, Minnesota with a Mid-Century exterior. At eight stories high, the building was converted to 144 income restricted apartment units. As a remodel, it required a lot of flexibility in executing the design in order to achieve the required fire ratings and acoustic performance. The building is connected to two skywalk systems that connect to adjacent buildings downtown, allowing for easy access and mobility. The building as a whole is great for downtown St. Paul because it encourages new residents to move in and revitalize the area, where shops and restaurants will thrive.
Key Challenges:
One of the biggest issues was the logistics and the stocking of materials. Scrapping away old materials and stocking in new ones took a lot of time and required lots of maneuvering. Materials had to be craned from floors 4-8, which was a big scheduling issue. Once everything was framed and we set up the wall systems, the drywall fell into place, so everything with the installation of the drywall worked well. Another obstacle was making the shaft systems work and having to work with the architect for the design. Sound attenuation was also important to help improve the building’s STC rating –many rooms needed to be retrofitted with SilentFX QuickCut.
Key Achievements:
One of the project’s most notable achievements was the level of finish (level 3 on the ceilings and 4 for the walls), which the owner was very pleased with. The gridlock system was a huge money-saver, because it went in economically and fast and was structurally supportive. They were also able to get a shaft issue resolved (the issue was that shafts were vertical runs, and each unit had its own dated shaft). This project is LEED certified.
Saint-Gobain Products & Systems: