Hope and Main Historical Renovation

Hope and Main is the first culinary business incubator in the state of Rhode Island.  The goal of Hope and Main is to grow the local food economy by supporting local entrepreneurs and providing a space where start-ups can create and experiment. More information about Hope and Main can be found at makefoodyourbusiness.org.

NE&C was retained to design the structural renovations made necessary by the changes of use and additions required to renovate the building.  The building housing Hope and Main is a renovated school house built in 1915. The age of the building created several challenges when designing the renovation.  The building was not designed to support the loads imposed by industrial kitchen equipment, nor was the building designed to resist loads due to high speed wind events.  An elevator needed to be added as well to allow access to the second floor of the building. NE&C assessed and analyzed the existing building to determine which structural members were adequate and which would need to be repaired or replaced. NE&C designed the steel framed addition housing an elevator.  NE&C also designed the wind stiffening that is required in the renovation of old masonry buildings.

Services provided

• Building Assessment
• Building Design
• Masonry wind analysis and strengthening design
• Construction documents