he Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL) celebrated its 150th Anniversary in March, commemorating the milestone at its new headquarters in downtown St. Louis’ historic Security Building. The $1.5-million adaptive reuse project was designed by St. Louis-based Lawrence Group Architects with construction management firm Integrate Construction Partners.
Located at 319 N. Fourth St., the 11-story Security Bank Building was originally designed in 1892 by Boston architects Peabody, Stearns & Furber. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000 and designated an official St. Louis Landmark, a priority was placed on designing and constructing a new space for the Bar Association that was totally modernized while maintaining the historic fabric of the 132-year-old building. Renovation of the 7,400-square-foot space on the building’s first floor was completed in March 2023.
Originally occupied by State National Bank, the Lawrence Group/Integrate team strived to incorporate many of the bank’s original character, such as its marble walls, intricate plaster ceilings and columns, and rich wood paneling, doors and frames, into the design for the new space. Even the bank’s original two-story safe vault was repurposed for use as storage areas for the Bar Association and its over 5,600 members.
For Integrate, transforming the historic bank into a modern workspace was not without its challenges. The bank space had been unoccupied for over 20 years and previous construction work in the space had destroyed its historic plaster and covered the original marble with drywall. Many of the renovation challenges involved peeling back some of these non-historic layers and restoring much of the original, natural beauty of the space while still meeting today’s building and fire codes. Creative solutions had to be worked out with city authorities to maintain fire separation from this space to the adjacent and second floor spaces.
The 20+ year vacancy of the space also led to the deterioration of existing mechanical and plumbing systems. Additionally, the space was not included in a prior major building renovation that incorporated upgraded electrical and fire protection services. All these systems were fully upgraded and modernized during the renovation.
Additionally, original ceilings and columns in the bank featured handcrafted, decorative plaster that required a specialty subcontractor to preserve and restore, and original marble wall panels that required another specialty subcontractor to grind, polish and restore. Integrate called in St. Louis-based Woemmel Plastering Company to perform the meticulous plaster restoration work and Ozark, MO-based Mid-America Specialty Services and Patke Restoration of St. Louis to restore the original marble walls.
