Work is underway to finish by Aug. 14 the $3 million rehab of the three-story building Washington University owns at the corner of Skinker and Delmar boulevards.

Students will live in the 16 apartments on the top two floors. But the building’s most visible feature will be the 6-foot vertical wind turbines on the roof. They will generate a bit of the building’s electrical power and also provide a distinctive sight on the Delmar Loop.

The appearance won’t be as elaborate as first considered, however. When the project came up last year before the St. Louis Preservation Board, the project’s architect said 14 rooftop turbines could spin within a decorative framework.

Steve Rackers, the university’s director of capital projects, and Mike Benoist, the project manager, said today that only seven turbines will line the rooftop facing Delmar. The turbine maker determined that crowding the rooftop with 14 turbines would inhibit their operation, Rackers and Benoist said. The framework is out of the project because it would block too much wind, they said.

The Preservation Board’s approval was needed because the turbines will alter the roofline of the university’s building, at 6193 Delmar, which is within the Skinker-DeBalivere Historic District. Adding to the building’s distinctive new appearance will be nighttime lighting on the turbines.

Trivers Associates is the project’s architect. Paric Corp. is the contractor.