Jeniusvi:
I've read your question, and I also read Oraks answer. His response was well thought out and fairly comprehensive - IF you are in need of a kitchen exhust fan and corresponding make-up air and combustion air set up.
But as I read you question I wasn;t sure that's what you were asking about . It sounded to me like you were asking more along the lines of venting hot air our of the attic space in the summer, and making the attic warmer in the winter.
If that is what you are after, thenI think you are looking at a much simpler solution, and certainly a much less costly issue to deal with.
Let's address something that you might be thinking about - if you can vent the attic - and get it cooled down - can you suck hot air out of the kitchen in the summer time up thru the attic & out thru the roof vents? Answer: NO. I'm beting you need to maintain a 1 hour fire barrier between the kitchen and the attic. (Just wanted to get that out of the way)
OK. How can you tell of your attic is vented? Does your building have a "flat roof"or a gabled or ridge roof like on a house? If you have a Gabled roof , or a ridge roof look at the sloped roof area to see if you see roof vents. There are 3 types you are lloking for. Ridge vent: A ridge vent looks like a "cap" on top of the ridge or peak of the roof. Box vents: Box vents are almost square rectangular vents about 14" x 16" x 4" that sit on the slope of the roof about 2' - 4' down from the ridge - in a horizontal line - say 6 - 12 in a row. Turbines" Turbines are in most cases non-motor driven whirly birds that sort of look like the way your wife wraps her hair up in a towel after she steps out of the shower. They are silber sheet metal, ans the wind spins the "blades" which suck the air out of the attic, People usually paint them to match the roof. If there were a dozen box vents on a sloped roof, then you'd probably only need 4 turbines to replace them.
Then there are gable end Vents. Go to the "Side" of the Building where the Roof peaks in the form of a triangle. A gable end vent wouls be a louvered inset in the top 2feet of this triangle - on both sides of the building - to allow for "flow thru ventiliation" The ventilation requirments for most attics is 1/300.
If you have a sloped roof, you may also have overhanging soffits, there could be soffit vents in these as well, - but unlikely in a building 150 years old.
If you have a flat roof, the vents are usuanll sections of stove pipe 6" - 8" in diameter with China Hat covers over the pipes , set up on legs to allow air out, and keep rain & snow from getting in.
It is doubtfull that there is any insulation in the attic, and while putting in a vapor barrier and insulation will help to keep your Kitchen warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, it may lead to problems in the future with mold growth in the ceiling, and buckling / warping of the bottom chords of your roof rafters. Unless you were to build in a lower insulated drop ceiling. - and install the VB in that dropped ceiling. You can then still blow in about 38 inches of fiberglass insulation in the attic space - and install 8" of polyisocyanurate insulation over a 6 mil. VB over a 8" sttel stud framed new ceiling tied off to a black iron frame, and sheath the ceiling in two layers of 1/2: type "C" or two layers 5/8 " Type X sheetrock, taped and finsihed, and painted with epoxy primer & 2 coats of epoxy paint. Install surface mtd light fixtures.
Cost? Depends on the size of the kitchen, and what you need for venting, and new celing . Get 3 estimates. But first hire an A/E firm to do a set of 6 drawing sheets and an outline spec for you so that your bidders are all bidding apples to apples, and everything is covered. (then get an estimate done from a contractor or a Professional Cost estimator, (and allow yourself a minimum 8% contingency allowance, ( after all its a 150 year old building - never know what you might run into)
At this point I strongly recommend that you hire a construction pahse Owner's rep. to oversee tne construction - for conformance to the Contract Documents, to see that the proper materials are used, and to make suire that the job stays on schedule, and he OK's Partial Payment Requests, etc. See if you can get your Architect to do this on a hourly not to exceed lump sum amount. Or maybe you have a friend in the Construction Business who can help you out?
A contingency is a "slush fund" part oif your construction loan that you control, that you hope you don't have to spend - but it's there "just in case". Let's say that You get your drawings done for $ 1,500.00. You get a construction extimated done for $ 400.00. You have 20 sets of drawings made and post them in the local builders exchange for as many contractors to bid as you can get, (the more competition the better). Cost of printing $ 250.00. The bid period runs 2 weeks You get a $ 15.00 deposit on each bid set that a contractor picks up, which you will return after the bids are in - providing he returns the full set back to you unmarked, and in good condition. You issue 1 addendum to answer contractors questions and clarify some issues during the bnid period, - for Builders exchange to send out for you to the bidders. $ 10.00.
You get bids back, and then sit down with the low bidder abd go over his bid to make sure he's accounted for everything, and hasn't included things in his bid that are unnecessary, - to make sure you have the lowest price possible.
THen work out the Contract, pay attention to start date and end date. There's lots more but this should giuve you a litle idea of what it takes. Good luck!