Lamar-River Oaks Community Center (1950, Raymond H. Brogniez) / courtesy photo
The Lamar-River Oaks Community Center, Preservation Houston’s home since 2012, has remained surprisingly intact since architect Raymond H. Brogniez designed the building in the late 1940s. However, some original elements have been lost, including interior signage that features an Art Deco-inspired typeface.
When PH Executive Director David Bush set out to recreate the missing signs, architect and PH member Joe Meppelink suggested contacting Post-Studio Projects. The East End firm uses computer-guided laser cutting to create a variety of signs, ornaments and decorative elements.
The new signs were laser-cut using digital replicas of the distinctive original typeface. / photo by David Bush
New signs custom-fabricated to match existing original examples now grace the halls of the Lamar-River Oaks building. / photo by David Bush
The Lamar-River Oaks signs aren’t standard sizes and do not use a commercially available typeface, so the company based its designs for the replicas on digital photos showing the dimensions of surviving plaques and existing examples of the distinctive lettering. The results were so precisely crafted that screw holes in the new plaques aligned exactly with holes in the doors where the original signs had been removed.
From using digital images to recreate long-lost signage to much more elaborate work, such as 3D printing missing cast-iron design features at the landmark Michigan Central Station in Detroit, technology is making it possible to carry out some phases of preservation projects more quickly and affordably. PH is pleased that Post-Studio’s creations have helped bring a dash of 1940s style back to our historic building.