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.

从玻璃转回石材也是出于环保考虑。纽约市长比尔·德布拉西奥最近搬到了 禁止新建玻璃摩天大楼 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™ 预制混凝土立面 | 洋基体育场 | 建筑师：Populous

“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 天然石材适用于各种立面锚固和支撑系统。了解具体方法。

“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® 和 CAMBRIAN BLACK® 现有结构上安装 Eclad 系统上的 3 厘米花岗岩面板 | TD 大厦 | 建筑师：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 意大利大理石 doesn’t cut it anymore.

金色阳光砂岩天然石墙板

走在天然石材装饰创新的前沿

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.“

创新的包层解决方案提供了更大的设计可能性 | 图示：Litecore 薄切印第安纳石灰石粘附在铝蜂窝背衬上

包层创新可以提供一种优雅且经济高效的解决方案，将天然石材的颜色和纹理融入其中，而无需昂贵的运输和漫长的安装。在体现天然石材的真实特性的同时，其中一些系统仍然重量轻，易于使用，使其成为满足建筑师必须满足的现代建筑规范严格要求的明智选择。

Polycor 天然石材适用于各种立面锚固和支撑系统。起源于 Polycor 采石场 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.

在选择石材用于外墙时，建筑师需要权衡许多因素：外观、预期用途、项目规模、强度、耐用性和性能。通过选择 Polycor 石材用于外墙，建筑师可以从我们对供应链的完全所有权中受益，从基岩一直到安装点。与 Polycor 这样的公司合作的价值在于，由于我们拥有自己的采石场，我们可以直接回答建筑师在制定外墙规格过程中可能遇到的任何问题或疑虑，而不必通过 2-3 个中间人。

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 埃克拉德， 霍夫曼石 and others to offer a complete cladding solution for the project.“

Vega 一直对创新的包覆技术感兴趣，并与我们制造工厂的研发专家合作，制造出厚度各异的天然石材包覆层，可用于建筑物内部或外部。它通常通过独立的导轨和夹具系统固定。

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 是一种解决方案，它提供重量仅为传统石材一小部分但安装速度却是传统石材的两倍。

图片来源：Litecore

采用 Litecore 系统的蜂窝石

这些多功能复合墙板采用 Polycor 石材切割成超薄饰面。这些面板粘附在层状蜂窝上，夹在铝板和玻璃纤维网之间，形成低密度、高强度和轻质的立面系统。

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

1cm 碳背石材，采用 Eclad 和 Elemex 系统

Polycor 1cm 碳纤维背板是超薄、轻质且耐用的天然石材产品，采用粘性专有背板代替铝。由此产生的石板适合集成到 Eclad 和 Elemex 包层系统中。

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

超高性能混凝土上的石材

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 拥有专业技能，可以打造任何项目，从简单的墙壁到长椅、出色的建筑项目和高层大厅内饰。每种解决方案都允许建筑师设计创新、可持续且美观的建筑外观，并采用石材表面。

“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™ 融合现代元素与传统石雕的包层 | 加拿大参议院，加利福尼亚州渥太华 | 建筑师：Diamond Schmitt

天然石材覆层扎根于过去，但面向未来，可满足现代建筑和设计的需求。虽然覆层创新不断使薄石材比以往更易于使用，但覆层并不是天然石材的唯一未来。