Clad All Over

November 5, 2002

by Roseli Perrone

Cladding certainly isn’t new – the process dates back to ancient Egypt – but new technology and a wider variety of stone varieties make it an ever-popular method for putting the best face on building exteriors.
Cladding, however, isn’t always an on-site job. For large projects, it’s standard to see work installed on precast concrete elsewhere, with the finished product going to the site. The precast method of fabrication, though, offers anything but a pre-fab look.
It’s the basis for the three large commercial cladding jobs featured here that were assembled and installed by Clark Pacific of West Sacramento, Calif. Some of the work includes on-site work; much of it involves stone veneer – panelized cladding systems with pre-cast concrete panels 4” to 5” thick, plus a 1-1/4” (3cm) stone facing which is mechanically anchored to the panel. There’s also stone on precast concrete that’s utilized for stones smaller than 10 ft² or complex panel shapes, and is also recommended for more porous stones such as travertine and sandstone.
However, there’s also large use of stone-on-truss frame panels, a hybrid product comprised of 1-1/4” (3cm) minimum-thickness natural-stone pieces mechanically attached to a steel frame. With a weight approximately 30 pounds ft² and no scaffolding needed in some cases to install, stone-on-truss works well for projects with larger stone pieces (greater than 10 ft²) and relatively flat panels.

University Circle, Palo Alto, CA
This office building is specifically targeted to the financial and legal markets; it’s all class A with one of the highest rental cost in the area.
The stone was installed on a pre-cast concrete system.
The darker charcoal and gray granites on the ground floor give the base a bold dark look. The Brazilian gray granite Golden Paglia Santa Cecilia at the second floor, with its yellow highlights, provides a transition to the upper limestone color. The upper floors have the yellow Pietra D’ Vencenza limestone with a uniform appearance for the classic look of Italian limestone. Several quarries in France and Italy were reviewed for the limestone, and several completed buildings in California, Nevada and Paris were viewed to decide on just the right look
Stone:
Nara polished granite, Canada – 11,000 ft²
Golden Paglia Santa Cecilia waterjet-finished granite, Brazil – 81,000 ft²
Pietra D’ Venchenza honed limestone, Italy – 75,000 ft²
Architect: Hoover Associates, Austin, Texas
Contractor: Devcon Construction, Milpitas, Calif.
Stone Fabricator: Savema s.p.a., Lucca, Italy

225 West Santa Clara, San Jose, Calif
This is a general office building serving the San Jose downtown, and targeted to the computer industry in the area.
The installation used three systems. The garage stone was mounted on precast concrete panels. The retail area, and second- and third-floor stone, was conventionally handset using stainless-steel anchors attached to the cast-in-place structural concrete frame. The tower stone was installed on metal tube truss frames, using stainless bolts in specially drilled holes in the back of the stone. A silicon extruded interior-gutter system was attached to the back of the panels as a secondary system to extract incidental moisture and condensation from the building.
The base of dark brown/yellow Sunflower Indian limestone shows unusual flowing veins, swirling characteristics and dark color. The second and third floor Northern Buff Minnesota Limestone offers a soft yellow character, making the transition from the Darker Sunflower to the light-colored Mocca Cream Portuguese Limestone on the tower. The light limestone tower provides uniformity and economical pricing.
Stone:
Sunflower honed limestone, India – 18,000 ft²
Northern buff honed limestone, Minnesota – 18,000 ft²
Mocca cream honed limestone, Portugal – 43,000 ft²
Architect: OPUS Architects & Engineers, Minnetonka, Minn.
Contractor: OPUS West Corp., Phoenix, Ariz.
Stone Fabricators: Southland Stone U.S.A. Inc., North Hollywood, Calif. (Sunflower limestone); Vetter Stone Co., Kasota, Minn. (Northern limestone); Ingemar S.A., Usurbil, Spain (Mocca cream limestone).

Skyport Plaza, Santa Clara, Calif.
This is a general office building for the Silicon Valley area.
The stone was installed using stainless-steel anchors with a precast concrete backing.
The German Jura Beige was selected for its fossil characteristics. The ancient German seabed produced a limestone with seashells and fossils that created an unusual and pleasing look to the building. The owner requested the same stone as used on a previous building, but with a closer tolerance on color. The stone came from a specific quarry, with material sorted by elevation to reduce color variation.
Stone:
Jura beige polished limestone, Germany– 75,000 ft²
Architect: Kenneth Rodrigues & Partners Inc., San Jose, Calif.
Contractor: Devcon Construction, Milpitas, Calif.
Stone Fabricator: Carli Cav. Oreste & C. s.a.s. , Carrara, Italy