Natural Stone Cladding: Anchored In The Past, But Ready For The Future-stone cladding

The longevity of stone puts any human concept of old age to shame. Stone creates a sense of permanence and solidity, even when worn and weathered. It’s been used throughout history as the structure and facade of buildings- buildings that have literally stood the test of time.

While natural stone has been the material of choice for millennia, glass has dominated commercial construction—especially large scale projects like skyscrapers—in recent years. But architects are increasingly reacting to this glut of glass by returning to stone for their projects. For many developers and architects, glass had become the default, a sterile, too obvious choice which resulted in a flat, texture-less and uninspired design.

A transición do vidro á pedra tamén é resultado de preocupacións ambientais. O alcalde de Nova York, Bill De Blasio, mudouse recentemente prohibir novos rañaceos de vidro in the city, making New York the first city to mandate energy efficiency. But it won’t be the last: According to the United Nations, 40% of the world’s energy consumption can be attributed to buildings. Pressure to construct buildings in a sustainably responsible manner is being felt by developers and architects around the world.

INDIANA LIMESTONE – FULL COLOR BLEND™ fachada sobre prefabricado de formigón | Yankee Stadium | Arquitecto: Poblado

“It’s pretty well known in the industry that those glass facade buildings are not energy efficient,” said Hugo Vega, vice president of Architectural Sales at Polycor. “Meaning that in the summer it becomes super hot and you need to have an extensive system of air conditioning and in the winter you need a lot of heating as compared to a traditional building with more stone.”

The design community has been embracing stone for facade design instead, and just in time, as changes in building codes and regulations are set to further tighten architects’ design choices. Natural stone plays an important role in the future of sustainable architecture thanks to its life-cycle, durability, ease of care, low maintenance, and energy efficiency— the list goes on. The minimal environmental impact that innovative cladding wall systems provide is another reason the building industry is moving back to natural materials.

As pedras naturais de Polycor son aplicables a unha variedade de sistemas de ancoraxe e apoio de fachadas. Mira como.

“Energy inefficient glass facades concerns are a good driver for the growing popularity of stone cladding,” said Vega.

Vega understands this continued demand for stone cladding better than just about anyone: he’s been the driving force behind the development of the cladding division of Polycor and he has an in-depth understanding of what architects and builders are looking for in their products.

BETHEL WHITE® e CAMBRIAN BLACK® paneis de granito de 3 cm sobre sistema Eclad instalados sobre estrutura existente | Edificio TD | Arquitecto: WZMH

“The type of stone will dictate possible finishes, thickness, and more,” said Vega. “For example, it’s inadvisable to use polished 3cm marble and expose it to the elements for cladding. Direct communication with selected quarries will help validate the block sizes and thus the maximum finished panel sizes, what natural features can be expected in the stone, and the availability of the material according to job size and phases.” Specification challenges can present themselves throughout a project, such as alternate stones being introduced by other parties and detracting from the initial design intent. Maintaining a close contact with the quarry teams helps ensure this is preserved. As Hugo points out, “Make sure to specify the true, branded names of the materials to avoid being supplied with undesired alternates.” The old days of calling out mármore italiano doesn’t cut it anymore.

Revestimento de parede de pedra natural Golden Sunshine Sandstone

Á VANGUARDIA DA INNOVACIÓN DE REVESTIMIENTOS DE PEDRA NATURAL

Stone cladding isn’t just the smart alternative to energy efficient glass, it’s also the simple choice, thanks to new cladding attachment systems.

“These new attachment systems allow stone to be used for lighter applications, when the structure has not been designed for a heavy full bed,” said Vega. “They also allow for a faster installation compared to traditional methods.“

As solucións de revestimento innovadoras permiten maiores posibilidades de deseño | Na imaxe: pedra caliza de Indiana de corte fino de Litecore adherida ao soporte de panal de aluminio

As innovacións de revestimento poden ofrecer unha solución elegante e rendible para incorporar as cores e texturas da pedra natural sen as complicacións do custoso transporte e unha longa instalación. Aínda que personifican o carácter auténtico da pedra natural, algúns destes sistemas seguen sendo lixeiros para facilitar o seu uso, polo que é unha opción intelixente para facer fronte aos estritos requisitos que os arquitectos deben cumprir nos códigos de construción modernos.

As pedras naturais de Polycor son aplicables a unha variedade de sistemas de ancoraxe e apoio de fachadas. Con orixe no Canteiras de Polycor and all through production, the stones are manufactured to each of our partner system’s specifications from ultra-thin profiles up to full thickness dimensional elements complimenting a wide range of facade structures.

Ao elixir unha pedra para o revestimento, os arquitectos deben sopesar moitos factores: aparencia, uso previsto, tamaño do proxecto, resistencia, durabilidade e rendemento. Ao elixir as pedras de Polycor para fachadas, os arquitectos benefícianse da nosa plena propiedade da cadea de subministración, desde todo o fondo ata o punto de instalación. O valor de traballar cunha empresa como Polycor é que, dado que somos propietarios das nosas canteiras, podemos responder directamente a calquera dúbida ou preocupación que poida ter un arquitecto durante o proceso de desenvolvemento dunha especificación para unha fachada en lugar de ter 2 ou 3 intermediarios.

Polycor Bethel White® granite quarry | Bethel, VT

“We have a wide array of our own limestone, granite and marble, so architects can discuss with the source and get accurate and reliable information,” said Vega. “We fabricate ourselves and sell blocks to other fabricators, ensuring competitiveness of the offers, while preserving the design intent. We work with industry leaders like Eclad, Pedra de Hofmann and others to offer a complete cladding solution for the project.“

Vega interesouse polas tecnoloxías innovadoras de revestimento e traballou con expertos en investigación e desenvolvemento das nosas plantas de fabricación para fabricar revestimentos de pedra natural de grosor variable que se poden utilizar dentro ou fóra dun edificio. Xeralmente fíxase mediante un sistema de abrazadeira e carril independente.

Polycor’s stone veneer can be installed over solid facing, which eliminates the challenge of removing the original substructure in some cases. Some stone panels are cut thin, while still maintaining the authentic look and feel of a thicker stone without the heavy weight of a 3-6 inch deep stone veneer, making installation fast and simple. Polycor’s thin stones are compatible in many cladding configurations and are manufactured for systems like Litecore, unha solución que ofrece pedra a unha fracción do peso e instalación ao dobre da velocidade.

Imaxe cortesía de: Litecore

Stone on Honeycomb co sistema Litecore

Estes versátiles paneis de parede compostos usan pedra Polycor cortada nunha chapa ultrafina. Adheridos a panal de mel en capas, encaixados entre follas de aluminio e malla de fibra de vidro, os paneis proporcionan un sistema de fachada de baixa densidade, alta resistencia e lixeiro.

KODIAK BROWN™ ultra thin 1cm granite with carbon fiber backing on Eclad system | Architect: Régis Côtés

Pedra con respaldo de carbono de 1 cm con sistemas Eclad e Elemex

As placas con respaldo de fibra de carbono Polycor de 1 cm son produtos de pedra natural ultrafinos, lixeiros e duradeiros que dependen dun respaldo patentado adherido usado en lugar do aluminio. Os paneis de pedra resultantes están adaptados para integrarse nos sistemas de revestimento Eclad e Elemex.

GEORGIA MARBLE – WHITE CHEROKEE™and Indiana Limestone facade on precast concrete | 900 16th St. Washington, D.C. | Architect: Robert AM Stern

Pedra sobre formigón de ultra alto rendemento

3cm stone mechanically anchored to thin, precast concrete panels provides additional installation advantages. Companies such as Hoffman Stone systems are compatible with Polycor’s stones.

Polycor ten a experiencia para crear calquera proxecto, desde unha simple parede ata bancos, proxectos arquitectónicos destacados e interiores de vestíbulos de gran altura. Cada solución permite aos arquitectos deseñar exteriores de edificios innovadores, sostibles e estéticamente agradables incorporando superficies de pedra.

“These solutions can also be used interchangeably to blend with more traditional architectural elements and stone masonry construction such as full bed trim, cornices, lintels and things of that nature,” said Vega. “And again, once the material is specified, it can be used on any cladding system, traditional masonry and fabricated by pretty much all the fabricators operating on the market today. This way architects can lock in their design intent, and let engineers and builders establish means and methods to realize the design within budget.”

INDIANA LIMESTONE – STANDARD BUFF™ revestimento que mestura un complemento moderno con cantería tradicional | Senado de Canadá, Ottawa, CA | Arquitecto: Diamond Schmitt

Anclado no pasado pero preparado para o futuro, o revestimento de pedra natural responde ás necesidades da arquitectura e do deseño modernos. E aínda que as innovacións en revestimento seguen facendo que a pedra delgada sexa máis fácil que nunca de usar, o revestimento non é o único futuro da pedra natural.