Persian Red polished travertine in varying
thicknesses gives a unique and stunning look to the lobby of the Energy
Center III, which can be seen from a Houston Interstate
Located in Houston, TX, Energy Corridor, Energy Center III is a
546,000-square-foot, 20-story, Class A office building with a lobby
visible to those driving west on Interstate 10 in Houston, TX. As a
result, architect Scott Cutlip, vice president of Kirksey Architects in
Houston, wanted the 30-foot-tall lobby to have a stone wall, as well as a
dramatic presence at night.
“We specified a ‘cable net’ curtain wall system on the wall opposite
the stone,” he said. “This created clear views of the stone from the
exterior — views unhindered by heavily mullions and structure. We also
wanted the feature stone wall to have a heavy texture, something that
would create shadows when grazed with light from the top and bottom.
This led us to vary the thickness of the stone to create pieces that
push in and out along the face of the wall.”
For the feature walls, which would serve as the dramatic backdrop for
the lobby, a polished Persian Red travertine was used, supplied from
Henraux in Querceta, Italy. The project called for 6,700 square feet of
3-, 5- and 7-cm-thick pieces. “The rest of the stone in the lobby, the
limestone floor and marble accents, were selected to complement the red
feature wall stone,” said Cutlip. “The stone was also selected on the
basis of performance and durability. Flamed black granite was specified
for the exterior flatwork, with some of this extending past the cable
net curtain wall to the interior and helping to blend the outside with
the inside.”
On the lobby walls and floors, 1,620 square feet of 2 cm polished
Arabescato Ore marble was employed. Also on the walls are 2,500 square
feet of 2 cm polished Calacatta Cervaiole marble, while on the floors
7,100 square feet of 2 cm honed Gascogne Beige limestone is used, all of
it supplied by Henraux. “The client was familiar with the red
travertine from a previous project, but was unable to use it because the
color did not fit with the base building tenants branding,” explained
Cutlip. “The client liked the red travertine and wanted to use it again.
The red travertine worked well with what we were trying to accomplish
in terms of dramatic views from the freeway as well as inside the
lobby.”
A precise installation
All the stone was dry laid in Italy with each stone’s location
preapproved. The fragile Persian Red travertine, having pieces in excess
of 550 pounds and 7 feet in length, was rodded to avoid breakage during
shipping and installation. Since each stone had a specific location,
any breakage would make it next to impossible to match adjacent stones.
“The extreme weight of some of the stones, coupled with the offset
center of gravity and precise positioning, necessitated engineered
mechanical anchorage supporting each piece individually,” said Ron
LaRicci, vice president of Camarata Masonry Systems, the stone
installation company for the project. “Normally, mechanical anchorage
does not offer the precision of the marble setter’s preferred wire and
plaster anchorage, but great care was taken to accurately locate the
stones. The outward rotation loads of some of the pieces and the random
locations of the anchor attachment dictated that the substrate be
extremely stiff and more accommodating than the standard stud and
sheathing backup. Accordingly, the stainless steel stone anchorage was
secured to the solid grout filled CMU wall substrate that we designed,
engineered, supplied and installed.” LaRicci performed an in-place
mock-up prior to proceeding with installation of all stones. However,
all stoners were dry laid at the fabricators facility, reviewed and
approved by a stone inspector representing the owner to avoid any color
issues at the site. As far as on-site supervision, Camarata Masonry
Systems on-site supervisor, Alex Almageur, maintained the quality of
installation that the company strives to achieve. Also, the general
superintendent, Dave Richards, and LaRicci, were frequent visitors to
the project to ensure that no surprises arose and that all stone was
installed in its designated position. “We mainly reviewed after
installation was complete,” said Cutlip. “There were a few corrections
that had to be made, a couple of pieces had to be replaced because they
were damaged or the color was not consistent. There were some floor
stone [pieces] that got water damaged and we had to cull through some
selections onsite. Overall, the stone arrived and was installed as
specified.”
The entire construction for the project was about two years, but the
stone installation was completed in about four months. “The project has
been praised by everyone who has had an opportunity to see it,” said
LaRicci. “Energy Center III has received multiple awards for the stone
installation, including: Marble Institute of America’s Pinnacle Award of
Excellence, Associated Builders and Contractors Houston Chapter EIC
Merit Award, Associated Builders and Contractors National EIC Pyramid
Award, Coverings Installation & Design Award in Commercial Stone
category and the Associated General Contractors of Houston APEX Award –
Silver.”