The original west building of the National Gallery of Art is a 1930s neoclassical structure by John Russel Pope, which borders the National Mall.  On the Constitution Ave side of the building, NGA also maintains a memorial fountain dedicated to former Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon, who donated his own art collection to form the seminal core of NGA holdings.

During the recent envelope restoration of the west building, WEI provided a range of masonry services, addressing both exterior and interior marble.  Masons cleaned the exterior using a combination of misting, spot chemical treatment, and microabrasion, depending on the type and severity of staining.  The crew also surveyed and spot-repointed butter joints and matched the existing mortar exactly.  Repair work included patching, pinning and replacement of Tennessee marble units, as well as Dutchman repairs.  WEI also replaced two 27,000 lb. pediment roof stones on the south side.

Previously, WEI performed an overhaul of the Mellon Fountain, which included cataloguing and storing all the granite plaza pavers as well as the stone and bronze fountain elements to waterproof the structure and replace the concrete topping slab.  Once the concrete had been poured, WEI reinstalled the pavers so they would shed water, including a new access ramp and landscaping curbs.  The crew then reassembled the fountain in its original position, using coordinates from laser scans done at the outset of the project.  The final step was to recreate the floor of the lower basin, installing the exposed stones by hand to accurately reproduce the original appearance.  WEI continues to perform maintenance treatment of the bronze fountain basins each year.

For the redesign of the café area, WEI fabricated and installed paneled wainscoting for new walls that matched the existing woodwork for a continuous appearance in the new space.  The conservation team refinished a bronze fountain that had been unused and filled with plants for many years.