Masonry Magazine August 1983 Page. 7
One of the fierce-looking lion heads that embellish the Hotel Utah in Salt Lake City.
More than 12,000 terra cotta units went into the 10-story addition to the venerable Hotel Utah in a 1970s expansion and restoration project. The new addition, shown under construction at left, is literally a carbon copy of the original section.
United States. He additionally has acted as a consultant to many architectural and engineering firms involved with restoration work from coast to coast.
Gladding. McBean also recently produced terra cotta for a new 38-story Tulsa, Okla., office building, which will match the architectural style of an adjacent 65-year-old terra cotta highrise. Beginning at the 17th floor, the new structure, which occupies a site of only 80 x 100 ft., will be cantilevered closely over the older structure and then rise another 20 stories.
To solve the problem of an unusually small site, the terra cotta units are being assembled into panels-some as large as 14% x 5 ft. The panels are then being shipped three miles to the site and erected.
"Because there is little room to store materials or erect scaffolding at the site, the terra cotta panels are well suited to this project," said Aubrey Metcalf, business agent for BAC Local 9, Tulsa. "We also save on-site construction time because both assembly and erection of panels by the masonry craftsmen can take place simultaneously. There is no sacrifice in quality since the terra units are carefully laid by hand, piece by piece, to make up the panels."
While Gladding, McBean is the principal terra cotta producer in the U.S., there is one other manufacturer, Architectural Terra Cotta & Tile Ltd. in Chicago, whose production consists solely of hand-made specialty pieces for restorations. The company recently created 950 individual pieces for Chicago's Sheridan Plaza, which opened as a hotel in 1921 and is currently being restored as 140 luxury rental units.
Under the direction of Larmco Co., mason contractors, the masonry craftsmen are cleaning and repairing the terra cotta cladding of the 12-story building, designated as an historic landmark by the U.S. Department of Interior. The newly made pieces which the bricklayers will install range from gargoyles and winged griffins to cornucopias and garden scenes.
Craftsmen set one of the larger pieces of terra cotta on an upper story of the Hotel Utah.
Wall section showing the terra cotta units, the void (later to be filled with grout), the reinforcing, and the concrete block.
Filling the void with grout ties in the terra cotta, the reinforcing, and the concrete block into an integral wall structure.