Masonry Magazine June 1985 Page. 5
COVER STORY
Granite-clad
Wyndham Hotel
Makes
Sculptural
Statement for
Masonry
Owner: Crow Hotel Development Co.
Architect: Dahl, Braden, Chapman, Inc.
Dallas, Texas
David Paul Patton-Project Architect
Mason Contractor: Dee Brown Masonry,
Inc.
Dallas, Texas
Structural Engineer: Nagler, Pitt & Merritt,
Inc.
Dallas, Texas
Civil Engineer: Carter & Burgess, Inc.
Fort Worth, Texas
General Contractor: Walker Construction
Co.
Fort Worth, Texas
Photography: Phillip Poole Associates,
Inc.
Fort Worth, Texas
Strength and stability radiate from the architecturally spectacular Wyndham Hotel, the elliptical-shaped. 30-story, granite-clad structure that now graces the bustling Dallas Market Center. Architects Dahl, Braden, Chapman, Inc., based in Dallas, incorporated selected polished Texas rose granite for its unique shade and permanence, qualities that make it the ideal medium for the solid statement they intended to make.
Despite the Wyndham's simplistic appearance, the elliptical shape presented the masonry crew, architects and engineers with a novel challenge. The correct design, cutting and placement of the straight-edged rectangular slabs of granite required the use of an engineering computer. Programmed coordinates determined how each slab had to be cut so that the pieces would mesh into a smooth surface.
The 6,099 slabs, each averaging 3 x 9 ft., were cut from a vein of granite near Marble Falls, Texas. When the slabs were laid out to the nearest thousandth of an inch, not one failed to fit.
Three separate computer programs were developed for the project to perform three different functions. The architect's program positioned the face of the building and how the cladding was to be jointed. The structural engineer's program located the structural frame around the perimeter, and the mason contractor's program showed how to cut the granite cladding and locate it so that all the pieces would fit smoothly and have the proper joints.
The project structural engineer, Nagler, Pitt & Merritt, Inc., Dallas, was enthusiastic about this system, which allowed a triple-check of the data generated. "We compared answers by checking one set of coordinates against another, so that if any errors had crept into one program, we were able to find them by checking against the other two," said Gary P. Ten Eyck, president of the firm.
A Matter of Coordination
"We had to marry the engineer's coordinates to the architect's," said Dee Brown, president of Dee Brown Masonry, Inc., Dallas, the mason contractor on the job. "The backs of the granite panels had to meet the engineer's coordinates, and the faces of the panels had to meet the architect's." The work also called for calculating the depth of the back cut needed on each piece "so that the granite would mesh together and form a smooth surface," especially on the curved splay of the hotel's first three floors.
David P. Patton, a vice president with project architect Dahl, Braden, Chapman, Inc., said the shape of the 542-room hotel presented unusual geometric design problems. He said he wrote the architect's programs from scratch, first using a programmable hand-held calculator to de-
MASONRY-MAY/JUNE, 1985 5