Few reading rooms in the world rival the scale of Bates Hall inside the Boston Public Library’s McKim Building. With its 50-foot barrel-vaulted ceilings and iconic green reading lamps, it is a cathedral of learning.
Recently, Eustis Chair had the honor of producing 50 historically accurate replica Windsor chairs for this legendary space. But “re-creation” in a high-traffic public library requires more than just aesthetic matching—it requires a deep understanding of the chair’s anatomy. Here is how we translated a 19th-century vision into 21st-century durability.
Honoring the Colonial Revival
The original seating in Bates Hall, chosen by architect Charles Follen McKim, drew from the Colonial Revival movement. These were bow-back Windsors—a design that first appeared in England before becoming a staple of Boston craftsmanship in the 1700s.
To begin the reproduction, we analyzed the existing hall chairs:
-The sculpted wooden seat.
-The specific curvature of the continuous bow-back rail.
-The precise taper of the slender vertical spindles.
The goal was for the new chairs to exist as seamlessly as the originals, maintaining the room’s timeless character.
Identifying the “Windsor” Weakness
Traditionally, Windsor chairs are built by inserting legs and spindles directly into a solid wood seat. While this method was efficient for 18th-century craftsmen, the high-stress environment of a public library—where chairs are pulled, pushed, and leaned upon hundreds of times a day- eventually takes its toll.
In a public setting, the joinery where the legs meet the seat is the primary failure point. Over time, the seasonal expansion of wood and the mechanical stress of use cause traditional glue joints to fail.
The Invisible Engine: Modern Engineering
The “anatomy” of our Bates Hall reproduction features a significant structural upgrade that remains entirely invisible to the eye. While the exterior remains a faithful tribute to the 1895 McKim vision, the interior is reinforced with the Eustis Joint®.
By using high-strength epoxies and concealed reinforcement, we create a bond that is stronger than the wood itself. This allows us to maintain the elegant, lightweight silhouette of the bow-back Windsor without the need for bulky, non-historic reinforcements. The result is a chair that looks like a 19th-century antique but performs like a modern piece of industrial equipment.
Preserving a Civic Monument
Participating in the preservation of Bates Hall is a reminder that thoughtfully crafted furniture plays a quiet but vital role in historic architecture. By understanding the anatomy of the original design, and where to improve it, we ensure that the story of the room remains uninterrupted.
When seating is built with respect for tradition and a focus on engineering, it supports generations of readers while maintaining the soul of the space.