GREAT BUILDINGS
From a date with the wrecking ball
to restored and enhanced splendor
By Barry A. Muskat; photos by kc kratt

I can’t say enough about the intelligent use of color in the residence. Cool blues and greens are used in the spaces oriented to the north, and warm reds and yellows in the spaces oriented south and west. The sun hits and the building’s interiors glow. Small details matter.
The façade of this neo-classical mansion has been beautifully restored. Despite a devastating fire in 1996, the dignified portico and columns continue to grace the Delaware Avenue streetscape.
A devastating fire threatened the future of the mansion at 591 Delaware Avenue that once belonged to Clarence L. Bryant of Bryant & Stratton’s Business College. In its most recent life, the building housed its owner’s dental office on the main floor and approximately ten apartments on the upper floors. A 1996 arson (some say it was the result of a lover’s quarrel) left the beautiful structure completely destroyed.

Despite the fact that the building lies within the Allentown Historic District, the city of Buffalo issued a demolition order in August 2000. Several buyers tried ineffectively to save the property. Luckily for the neighborhood and the Delaware Avenue streetscape, it sold at a foreclosure auction to architect Matt Moscati and his brother Christopher. After the fire’s extensive initial damage and subsequent substantial deterioration while the building sat open and exposed to weather conditions, the roof and interior structural components were deemed unsound. The sole salvageable original elements were its beautiful colonial revival façade, with its impressive two-story portico, and most portions of the building’s northern and southern exterior walls. The challenge was how to save the building’s historic grandeur while making it viable for multipurpose use.

As Moscati explains, “The project was conceived as an undertaking whose success would be gauged in its ability to demonstrate the positive results of juxtaposing often purposefully separated characteristics. A historical building would become the context which grounded a modern structure. A commercial structure would become the base of a residential building. A static structure would be configured into a dynamic form.” That juxtaposition has resulted in a thoughtfully designed building that balances and enjoys the best of the historic and modern worlds. Behind its restored façade, the building today houses handsome offices for a commercial tenant and a fabulous residence for Moscati and his wife, Erin.
The open plan of the residence connects the cooking, dining, and living spaces. The double-volumed cube is fully surrounded by a mezzanine and flooded with natural light.

The project wasn’t without many trials and tribulations. Restoring an historic residential building to mixed use, while emphasizing sustainable technologies, was an extremely ambitious endeavor. From a financing point of view, it needed to blend the developer’s ingenuity with programs for energy efficiency, historic tax credits, and steadfast determination. Most local lenders had a difficult time justifying the project. When the original major commercial tenant backed out, the investment firm of O’Keefe Shaw & Company came on board. Moscati used that commitment to negotiate with a smaller bank, Northwest Savings, who executed the financing rapidly and allowed the work to proceed. Today, he emphasizes that traditional concerns by conservative lenders about combining commercial and residential uses that often stall a project can definitely be overcome. It was important to prove the undertaking could stand on its own before seeking approvals.
Left: Walls employ subtle angles and are sensuously textured with a naturally pigmented clay finish. Color is used to brilliant effect, and lighting systems are high-tech. Middle: The generous kitchen island echoes the curve of the exterior portico in a reverse dimension. Natural maple, bamboo, and cork frame the cooking and entertaining space. Right: A rear view of the new construction reveals volumes that explode in a dynamic addition, giving new energy to the historic structure. The lower section forms the commercial space while the residence portion and roof garden rise above it.

Moscati sees a metaphor for the endeavor in the exploded back wall. Volumes in new fabrics literally “explode” from the saved brick portions and rebuilt remnants. Reclaimed brick has been used to create fragments that define the commercial floor. This device further strengthens the symbolism of saving the original container of the building and making a static building very dynamic. Office space is housed in the lower two levels of the structure. The space between the fragments of the old footprint reads like a glass box articulated with foundation-to-roof glazing on both the north and south sides. Two skylights are centered to focus light in the central court. The south wall employs a resin-panel sun screen to moderate the sun’s impact. This is punctured with four windows to allow views and bright light in the upper level offices.
In the commercial space, private offices surround an open courtyard on two levels. A handsome railing system defines the appealing workspace.
Erin and Matt Moscati (plus one) are shown on the mezzanine, a roomy area that is wrapped in bookshelves and storage. Custom railings, the final feature of the home, are in production and about ready for installation.
The commercial space might be described as a procession that originates at the main west entrance with the participant oriented by the classical portico. One passes through the mahogany and leaded glass entry door into a vestibule that is finished in period style. That passage is flanked by pocket doors revealing a traditional conference room to the left and a reception area to the right. The Delaware face of the building is defined by massive load-bearing walls that contain traditional double-hung windows trimmed with traditional wood moldings. As one proceeds east through the building, a steel column appears in the distance. Load-bearing wall systems are replaced by structural grids and other non-load-bearing systems of enclosure. The historic trim gives way to modern indirect lighting, metal railings, and recycled carpet tiles. A mezzanine forms an organizing space around a courtyard. Private offices on the mezzanine have bright exterior windows; sunshine flows to the heart of the space at courtyard level.

That sunlight has a major impact on the quality of the commercial space as well as an impact on the building systems. The lighting is connected to a sophisticated control system which not only dims the lights based upon occupancy and personal preference, but also measures ambient light levels provided by the sun. It then adjusts the lighting to allow for a constant level using both natural and artificial sources.

The residential portion of the project really captivates the attention of the visitor. One enters on the north side at ground level, but ascends a flight of stairs to the major living spaces on the second and third floors. The public portions of the residence face the west (Delaware Avenue) and the private spaces face to the east (residential roof garden). The major public space of the residence is a very large two-story cube, capped by two large pyramidal skylights. The open plan connects the cooking, dining, and living spaces, fully surrounded by a mezzanine. The semicircular form of the façade’s important portico is flipped to be echoed on the interior. Moscati explains that the device creates a formal pressure in the major public two-story space. He notes, “This pressure is further articulated by the apparent fissure which separates the two primary private spaces of the second floor.” That hall (between the two bedroom suites) is described by Moscati as a perspectile gallery. It serves to foreshorten the distance between the inside and outside, connecting the major interior space with the major exterior public space, the residential roof garden.

This twenty-first-century architect has used century-old principles of perspective to their best benefit in different aspects of the design. Splaying the walls of the gallery that connects the residence’s main volume to the rear roof garden is a device that shortens its depth and makes the outside seem closer. Walls which might have been parallel in plan instead employ subtle angles to play with the visitor’s senses. These angles are carefully used in unlikely places throughout the project and provide thoughtful surprises that make the visitor want to slow down to enjoy each of these moments.

Sustainable systems, energy efficiency, clean materials, and environmental concerns are important to both members of the couple. Erin worked at the University of Buffalo in sustainable design. She and Matt met during a member/owner meeting when the Lexington Co-op project was in its planning stages. When she rhetorically asked why the architect for the project couldn’t be there to answer questions, Matt assured her that the architect was indeed in the room … and the rest is romantic history.

Vertical grain bamboo hardwood flooring, recycled carpet tiles, natural slate tiles, and cork floor tiles make up the majority of the floor finishes. Handsome natural maple is used in the cabinetry, open stairways, and wood trims. The decision was made to treat the south side of the residence with warm colors and the north side with cool colors. Consistently though subtly handled, the results are tremendously effective.
Bathrooms are finished in different
schemes of slate and stone, one more handsome than the next.
Two master bedroom suites feature unique tray ceilings and separate dressing areas. The northern rooms are treated in cool colors while the southern rooms use warmer shades.
What might once be called earth tones, or more exactly colors from nature, are used throughout the residence with beautiful effect. Naturally pigmented clay in tones of sage, gold, and burnt umber coat the gallery walls in a sensuous texture. A side benefit of this sustainable product is that, when left unsealed, it absorbs and releases humidity as a moisture-control device. The clay is trowel-applied to the surface, as opposed to paint, which is brushed. Another benefit to this product is that drywall contractors don’t have to be as exacting in their finishes, since the final texture will conceal joints. The wall surfaces are enhanced by lighting provided by low-voltage cable rail. This minimalist system allows enormous flexibility with maximum effect.

I can’t say enough about the intelligent use of color in the residence. Cool blues and greens are used in the spaces oriented to the north, and warm reds and yellows in the spaces oriented south and west. The sun hits and the building’s interiors glow. Small details matter. At dusk, indirect light bounces off the golden yellow walls above the mezzanine’s bookshelves to wrap the room with an incredible effect that is reminiscent of sunsets and candlelight. The guest suite’s tray ceiling has an upper portion that is done in a soft grey. At night, artificial light is cool and soothing.

The master bathroom and guest suite bathroom are handsomely finished in two different schemes in slate and stone, all natural materials. Radiant heat coupled with forced air keeps the space efficiently comfortable.

Foam spray insulation has been used throughout. The “R” value is as high as standard but the air infiltration is very small. The added benefit is that it has a great sound transmission co-efficient rating, which keeps the building very quiet despite its mixed uses.

A roof garden floats above the space generated between the original eastern boundary of the building and the volume that houses the commercial space on the lower two levels. The roof garden’s finishes are still a work in progress, but the framework provides a fabulous private exterior space to the rear of the residence. There’s no doubt that when the railing, planters, and plant materials are installed, these urban dwellers will have all the amenities to treasure their time outdoors.

Certain small details of this project provide interesting conversation points. Three layers of brick form the exterior walls. An energy-efficient project needs to decide how to handle that kind of wonderful brick. If it’s left fully exposed, there are huge areas of heat loss. Here, Moscati decided to insulate the walls with eight inches of interior insulation. However, since the roof was insulated so heavily, he elected to cut away small rectangles of the wallboard to sections of original brick that offer “a few windows to history.” These can be seen as interesting features in the built-in bookshelves that circle the upper floor of the residence.

The second floor bedrooms share a dynamite “Jack and Jill” bathroom. A freestanding claw-footed tub is centered to the windows. Crisp green and white mosaic tiles form pleasing patterns and backdrop in the synergy between a retro look and desires for contemporary comfort.

The building awaits designation as a LEED-certified structure. There is an extensive list of energy-efficient components that limited space doesn’t allow to be itemized in this article. Many of these center around materials, insulation, plumbing and heating efficiencies, and various attributes of the roof design. One very simple and sensible feature captures precipitation on the high roof which is piped through a valve that then uses the rainwater to irrigate plants on the low roof garden.

A very telling element of the residence is the floor-to-ceiling vertical window located in the corner of an upstairs bedroom. The window is actually formed by the void between the original preserved brick wall and the volume of the inserted new structure. The slot punctuates the building with an unambiguous statement, defining the essence and vitality of a highly successful project.

Barry A. Muskat is Spree’s architecture critic. He sits on the city’s Preservation Board, and is delighted that 591 Delaware has been nominated for a distinguished Preservation Award to be presented this spring.


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