Page 22 - March 2024 SRG Flipbook

22 | April 2024
Continued from page 14
Natural Stone Institute Member Company
Lorton Stone, LLC
Springfield, Virginia
Stone Installer
Project Team Members
Pelli Clark & Partners Design Architect
WDG Architecture Architect of Record
AKDO Intertrade Stone Suppliers
S. M. Haw Associates Stone Consultant
Stone
Dark Olive marble
Slippery Rock Gazette
Commercial Interior
Natural Stone Institute Member Company
Camarata Masonry Systems Houston, Texas Stone Installer
Project Team Members
Henraux
Stone Supplier/Fabricator
Kendall Heaton Associates
Pelli Clark & Partners Architects
Stone
Bianco Macchietta honed marble Silver Mink honed marble
Commercial Interior
Texas Tower, Houston, Texas
2100 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, D.C.
Texas Tower, the new global headquar- ters for Hines Development, is the latest addition to the downtown Houston skyline. The architect designed the 47- story, 1.2 million square foot structure from the inside out to create the next gen- eration of office space.
The interior lobby is nothing short of specular. Upon entering the lobby through an elliptical glass entry, your eyes are immediately drawn to the 30 foot tall x 35 foot long curved, scalloped, and edge- lit white marble wall. The “V” shaped stone pattern flooring in Silver Mink mar- ble from Turkey seemingly leads you to it. The unique design required every piece of the floor and every vertical course of wall stone to have different piece sizes. Bianco Macchietta marble from Italy is used throughout the lobby which includes the scalloped feature wall, eight 30 foot tall columns, a grand staircase, and three 30
Marble melds nature, architecture, and sculpture together at 2100 Pennsylvania Avenue, a LEED Gold, mixed- use development on the northeast corner of the George Washington University campus.
Stone procurement for 2100 Penn Ave started during concept design. The team explored an array of medium to dark-colored stones to address both durability and natural beauty. For the exterior storefronts and entry paving, the team selected flamed Zimbabwe Black granite. This was also selected for all restroom vanity tops. For the greatest scope of stone, located in the interior entry lobby, grand stair, and atrium, the team selected Turkish Dark Olive marble. The design architect visited the Dark Olive quarry in Sivas, Turkey, and conveyed the rich array of possible finishes, particularly a leathered surface (sand blast with brush and seal) com- bined with a high-honed accent.
The stone fabrication achieved unprece- dented levels of quality through a thorough,
100% dry-lay review process, including all dimension stones and curving slabs of the grand stair. The architects refined the design multiple times to better suit the review and blending process. The paving design included four different sized pieces that resulted in the highest yield per slab. By incorporating a regular high-honed accent, the stone paving had regular breaks that afforded better blend- ing tolerances for the entire project. Special wood scaffolding was employed to facilitate the complete dry-lay of all wall, stair, ramp, and paving stone together.
The most challenging parts of the instal- lation were the ramp and walls at the grand stairs. The 100 percent dry-lay reviews helped assure a smoother process, but there were still issues of unavoidable cupping. In select areas, the installer had to grind and refinish the leather surface to match through- out. This proceeded after a careful review of additional mockups and input from the installers, architects, and owners.
foot tall main elevator lobbies. Above each of the 24 elevator doors, the Macchietta marble is 2 inches thick to allow for 1 inch deep by 3-1/4 inch-wide flutes to be carved into the stones.
The base of the wall is loaded onto a 3/16 inch angle with a 1/2 inch x /4 inch stain- less steel bar welded to the edge of the angle. The stainless-steel bar protrudes 1/4 inch from the face of the stone giving it a unique detail. The piece sizes vary, but the typical paver size at the interior flooring is 3 feet x 5 feet x 3 cm thick. The average interior stone wall size is 2 feet 6 inches x 4 feet x 3 cm thick, with a few larger fluted walls at 5 feet x 4 feet x 2 inches thick.
The pandemic heightened manpower and supply chain challenges caused the flow of work became inconsistent throughout the project. While these issues put a strain on the construction schedule, they never extended the final completion date.
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