We’re excited share more of the story on our long-time banking partner, LNB (Lyons National Bank), and their newest community branch which we raised just up the road from our Farmington, NY shop.
The first bent is raised for the new LNB Farmington NY branch, early 2020. Photo (C) Jim Kerins.
While the branch is quickly heading towards completion, we wanted to re-cap some of the processes involved in getting there:
LNB has a focus on people and is always very involved in the local communities, ethos that parallel our own. The Farmington branch site includes a historic home that is being preserved and refreshed. A new timber frame, connecting to the historic home, will accommodate the bank’s main operations.
The interior timber frame of the Hathaway House (above) needed a bit of restructuring which our timber frame team took on, with crafting and retrofitting reclaimed timbers lead by our foreman and master timberwright, Mike G. Pioneer Millworks provided agricultural reclaimed hand-hewn timbers to blend with the existing timber frame.
During the groundbreaking earlier this year Thomas Kime, president of LNB shared, “We want the Farmington community to feel a sense of pride when they visit the branch, as it incorporates the second oldest structure in Ontario County. While we look to celebrate the past, we are excited to invest in the continued development of Farmington and play a role in its future growth and success.” The LNB website shares a bit on the build, including a quick video.
While the conservation and revitalization of the existing Hathaway House (above left) was a critical part of the planning and development, also key was the consideration and respect of local vernacular. Paying homage to the community’s roots, and current aesthetics in the Farmington, the main timber frame (above right) for this branch was inspired by traditional barn structures. Despite some chill to the days, our crews made raising this large barn-style frame look easy.
One of the large bents, pre-assembled on-site is lifted as a unit and joined to the frame:
A timber frame pavilion (left below) will provide sheltered drive-through access to tellers and ATMs.
Following our timber frame craftsmen, our build and construction team wrapped the timber frame with our pre-panelized, high-performance enclosure system (we’re calling it HPE-Z), the latest evolution of our Matrix Wall™. LNB desired this high-performance enclosure as it is good for the planet–allows the finished building to utilize less energy heating/cooling–and will provide a more comfortable interior environment for the bank employees and patrons alike.
We have pre-panelized our energy efficient wall system (above at the LNB Farmington branch), the Matrix Wall™, since 1993, and have been involved with over 2,000,000 square feet of Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs - see image below). This year we'll are introducing new semi-automated equipment to make high performance even easier.
LNB has shared information and some video clips of the branch progress. You can view them on the LNB site along with history of the Hathaway House.
Over the last few weeks our fine woodworking division, NEWwoodworks, has been fabricating various interior pieces for the branch. Utilizing reclaimed Settlers’ Plank hardwoods from our sister company, Pioneer Millworks, teller station wraps, doors, and more are being handcrafted in the shop.
The LNB doors crafted by NEWwoodworks celebrate original patina and textures of the reclaimed wood.
We’ve had the privilege of crafting timber frame accents, roof structures, custom tables, and flooring for several of the local NY LNB branches. The Farmington branch is by far the most extensive. We’re thrilled to have our trusted banking partners just up the block from our headquarters, to be part of the preservation of the Hathaway House, and to know that our craft will be experienced by all of those who visit the bank.
