A Unique Collaboration

In August, a group of seven students from the Boston Architectural College’s Masters of Design in Historic Preservation spent eight days learning about preservation carpentry and hand-skills as part of a semester-long class led by NBSS Preservation Carpentry instructor Steven O’Shaughnessy.

This unique program combines a studio intensive with distance learning to teach students about historic building systems important to the preservation of New England structures from the Colonial era through the middle of the twentieth century. Hands-on topics covered include traditional timber framing, flat and ornamental plastering, bench and molding planes, historic sash and windows, paint finishes, and historic hardware and fasteners. In addition to working closely with Steven O’Shaughnessy, students learned from an all-star line-up of preservation experts including Robert Adams, Sara Chase, Andy Ladago, and Rich Friberg.

The intensive week also included a field trip to the new Art of the America’s wing of the MFA where curator Dennis Carr discussed several important exhibits (pictured above), a visit to Trinity Church, and a trip to the Saugus Iron Works, a 1950’s rebuild of the nations first successful iron works from the mid 17th century.