The Mob Museum Remodel

Originally opening its doors in 2012, the Mob Museum looked to Henderson Engineers to remodel its basement and first floor to build public interest through expanded retail and dining experiences, and updated exhibit areas. With the building being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, we had our work cut out for us to ensure that the facility maintained its historic integrity while the Mob Museum underwent the remodel, while remaining opening to the public. In the basement, new spaces include a distillery and meeting room, speakeasy, bar, catering area, and kitchen. On the first floor of the museum patrons can now enjoy a new retail area, cafe/deli, in addition to new exhibit space, simulator, and crime lab.

By performing a load study of the building envelope and existing capacity of the central plant, handling units, air distribution system, it was determined that the existing HVAC system did not have the capacity to serve the new building load. These finding in addition to the nature of constructability lead our team to the conclusion of implementing the latest HVAC technology; Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) to serve the heating, ventilation, and cooling needs for the new spaces. In the kitchen and catering areas, a new grease waste piping system and an extension of the natural gas piping system were implemented. Throughout the remodeled areas, Henderson also provided power, voice/data, and low voltage systems design, new waste/vent, hot, and cold water piping systems.