Local architecture firm wins awards for work on state house

For almost 15 years, Treanor Architects worked on a restoration and preservation project at the Kansas Statehouse.

Now, only months after the project was completed, the companys work is being recognized on the state and national level.

The North American Copper in Architecture organization recognized the project as one of 14 recipients of the annual award for excellence in new construction and restoration projects utilizing copper, according to a news release from the state Department of Administration.

Treanor Architects submitted the firms work to the organization as well as to the American Institute of Americas Kansas chapter.

Vance Kelley, principal architect within the preservation branch of Treanor Architects, said the NACIA honor is a more competitive, more stringent national award. It is quite an honor.

The process for Treanor began in 1999 when the company was selected to create a historic structural report about the Kansas Capitol that, at the time, had been open for nearly 100 years.

There were deficiencies in the building, Kelley said. And more were discovered as the four-phase project continued.

Kelley pointed to part of the project where workers focused on the area where the copper meets the masonry.

Even though crews had spent time examining the structural integrity of the dome before work started, some problems couldnt be seen until the project was underway, which meant the discussion of a new roofing material had to be put on the table.

There was 120 years of deterioration and some of it we couldnt see. Years of expanding and contracting made the metal brittle and cracked, Kelley said.

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Local architecture firm wins awards for work on state house