Page 74 - State College, PA Design Guidelines

06.28.2018 •

Building Walls and Materials

Individual historic building walls should be repaired and preserved wherever
possible. Primary historic building materials also should be preserved. If the
material is damaged, then limited replacement, which matches the original,
should be considered. These materials should never be covered or subjected
to harsh cleaning treatments. Preserving original building materials and
limiting replacement to only portions that are deteriorated beyond repair
reduces the demand for, and environmental impacts from, the production of
new materials and thus is sound sustainability policy as well.

EXTERIOR BUILDING WALLS

Preserve an original building material. A building generally presents four walls. These often are character-defining
features of a property, but the degree of significance may vary from wall to
wall. The front and first 50% of the sides of the historic building are typically
SUBSTITUTE MATERIALS the most important aspects of a building. These historic walls are key to
ON EXTERIOR WALLS defining the significance of a property and should be preserved.
For more information about using
substitute materials on the exterior
of a historic building, review the 6.5 Preserve the key historic walls of a building.
National Park Service Preservation Brief a. Maintain significant historic character-defining walls in their
16: The Use of Substitute Materials on original form.
Historic Building Exteriors. A hard copy
is available for review in the Planning b. Pay special attention to maintaining the historic appearance of
Department. building walls of corner buildings.

EXTERIOR MATERIALS AND FINISHES
TREATMENT OF
HISTORIC WOODWORK Historic building materials should be preserved in place whenever feasible. If
For more information about how to the material is damaged, then limited replacement which matches the original
properly treat exterior surfaces with should be considered. These materials should never be covered. Preserving
paint, to remove paint from a historic original building materials and limiting replacement to only pieces which
building or to repaint a historic are deteriorated beyond repair reduces the demand for, and environmental
building, review the National Park impacts from, the production of new materials. A variety of building materials
Service Preservation Brief 10: Exterior including horizontal wood siding, stone and brick are used throughout State
Paint Problems on Historic Woodwork. A College’s local historic districts; the design guidelines below apply to all
hard copy is available for review in the materials.
Planning Department.
6.6 Preserve an original building material.

a. Protect a historic building material from deterioration.
b. Do not remove a historic material that is in good condition.
c. Remove only those materials which are deteriorated, and must
be replaced.

68 STATE COLLEGE, PA • HERITAGE STATE COLLEGE DESIGN GUIDELINES