
The Helmsley Building restoration sets a precedent for repairing historic terra cotta. Thornton Tomasetti provided structural renewal and historic preservation services for the comprehensive façade restoration program from the cupola atop the crown to the vehicular portals at Park Avenue.
Cintec and Thornton Tomasetti worked together when examining the building's original terra cotta brackets. By using nondestructive evaluation techniques - including impact echo, ultrasonic pulse velocity and infrared scanning - the teams discovered the structure behind the columns was sound and attaching the Cintec Anchoring System would help strengthen the terra cotta without adverse aesthetic effects to the historic materials.