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.

O le suiga mai le tioata i tua i le maa o se taunuuga foi o popolega tau le siosiomaga. O le pulenuu o Niu Ioka Bill De Blasio talu ai nei na siitia atu i fa'asa fale tioata fou 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™ facade i luga o sima mua'i lafo | Yankee Stadium | Tufuga: To'atele

“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.

Polycor ma'a fa'anatura e fa'aoga mo le tele o facade taula ma faiga lagolago. Vaai pe faapefea.

“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® ma CAMBRIAN BLACK® maamora 3cm panels i le faiga Eclad fa'apipi'i i luga o fausaga o iai | Fale TD | Tufuga: 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 maamora Italia doesn’t cut it anymore.

Auro Sunshine Sandstone Ma'a Fa'alenatura Ufi puipui

I MUMU O MAA NATURAL CLADDING INNOVATION

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.“

Fofo fa'alava fa'afou fa'ataga mo le tele o fa'ata'ita'iga | Ata: Litecore manifinifi tipi Indiana Limestone pipi'i i alumini fa'alago meli

O mea fou faʻapipiʻi e mafai ona ofoina atu se fofo matagofie ma taugofie mo le tuʻufaʻatasia o lanu ma lanu o maʻa masani e aunoa ma le faʻalavelave o felauaiga taugata ma faʻapipiʻi umi. A'o fa'atusaina le uiga moni o le ma'a fa'alenatura, o nisi o nei faiga e tumau pea le mama mo le fa'aoga faigofie, ma avea ma se filifiliga atamai mo le fa'atalanoaina o mana'oga ma'oti e tatau ona ausia e tufuga i tulafono fa'aonaponei o fale.

Polycor ma'a fa'anatura e fa'aoga mo le tele o facade taula ma faiga lagolago. E afua mai i le Polycor eliina 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.

Pe a filifilia se maa mo le faʻapipiʻiina, e manaʻomia e le au tusiata ona fuaina le tele o mea: foliga vaaia, faʻamoemoeina faʻaoga, tele o le poloketi, malosi, tumau ma faʻatinoga. E ala i le filifilia o ma'a Polycor mo facades, e fa'amanuiaina e le au tusiata mai lo tatou umiaina atoatoa o le sapalai filifili, mai le ala uma i lalo i le ma'a e o'o atu i le mea e fa'apipi'i ai. O le taua o le galulue faatasi ma se kamupani e pei o Polycor, talu ai ona o tatou e ana a tatou fale eli, e mafai ona tatou tali saʻo i soʻo se fesili poʻo ni atugaluga e ono i ai se tusiata i le faagasologa o le fausiaina o se faʻamatalaga mo se facade nai lo le 2-3 tagata ogatotonu.

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, Maa Hofmann and others to offer a complete cladding solution for the project.“

Sa fiafia Vega i tekinolosi fa'apipi'i fou ma sa galulue fa'atasi ma tagata su'esu'e ma atina'e tomai i a matou fale gaosi oloa e fai ai ma'a fa'alenatura e fesuia'i le mafiafia e mafai ona fa'aoga i totonu po'o fafo o se fale. E masani ona fa'apipi'i e ala i se nofoa afi tuto'atasi ma le fa'apipi'i.

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, o se fofo e ofoina maa i se vaega o le mamafa ma faʻapipiʻi i le faaluaina le saoasaoa.

Ata fa'aaloaloga a: Litecore

Ma'a i luga o le Honeycomb ma le Litecore system

O nei mea fa'apitoa, fa'apipi'i puipui puipui e fa'aogaina ai le ma'a Polycor e tipi i totonu o se mea e sili ona manifinifi. Faʻapipiʻi i le faʻapipiʻiina o honeycomb, faʻapipiʻi i le va o laupepa alumini ma fiberglass mesh, o panels e maua ai se faʻaogaina maualalo, malosi maualuga, ma le mama facade system.

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

1cm Ma'a-Tu'u-Kabonu ma faiga Eclad ma Elemex

Polycor 1cm carbon fiber backed slabs e sili ona manifinifi, mama, ma anagata maa natura e faʻalagolago i se lagolago faʻapitoa e faʻaaogaina e sui ai le alumini. O fa'ai'uga ma'a e fa'atatau e fa'apipi'i i totonu o faiga fa'apipi'i Eclad ma Elemex.

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

Ma'a i luga ole sima maualuga maualuga o faatinoga

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.

O le Polycor e iai le tomai e fau ai so'o se galuega mai se puipui faigofie i nofoa nofoa, galuega faufale mata'ina ma totonu o lobby maualuluga. O vaifofo ta'itasi e mafai ai e le au tusiata ona mamanuina mea fou, gafataulimaina ma fa'alelei fa'alelei fafo o fale fa'atasi ai ma ma'a.

“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™ fa'apipi'i fa'afefiloi fa'aonaponei fa'atasi ma ma'a masani | Senate o Kanata, Ottawa, CA | Tufuga: Diamond Schmitt

O lo'o taula i aso ua tuana'i ae ua sauni mo le lumana'i, o ma'a fa'alenatura e fa'amalieina mana'oga o fausaga fa'aonaponei ma mamanu. Ma a'o fa'apipi'i fa'afouga fa'aauau ona fa'afaigofieina le fa'aogaina o ma'a manifinifi nai lo se isi lava taimi, e le na'o le fa'apipi'iina o ma'a fa'anatura.