Day House Accessible Entrance
The Norwood Historical Society (NHS) “collects and preserves objects, artifacts, documents, photographs, and memorabilia related to Norwood’s history” – including its headquarters, the F. Holland Day House. The house, built in 1859 in the Second Empire Style and radically transformed in the 1890s to its current Tudor style, was home to influential photographer, publisher, and philanthropist Fred Holland Day. Mr. Day bequeathed the house to NHS upon his death in 1933 and it has been open to the public ever since.
KMA was hired by NHS to make the entrance to the Day House accessible for the first time in its nearly ninety years as a public building. KMA’s challenge was to design an accessible entrance in harmony with the traditional and historic elements of the house, which is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The team designed an accessible route from the sidewalk to the house by proposing a bluestone walkway leading to a terrazzo ramp constructed within the footprint of the existing wrap-around porch. By remaining subservient to the original massing of the porch, the ramp design provides seamless access to the building without adversely affecting historic character defining features.
Photos by Jarred Stanley
