Masonry Magazine June 1985 Page. 6
WYNDHAM HOTEL
The architect also gave the granite supplier, Cold Springs Granite Corp., Cold Springs, Minn., the theoretical centerline of each joint. Then the supplier had to calculate how to cut the edge of each slab in order to have the proper joint between panels so everything would mesh.
The general contractor on the job, Walker Construction Co., Fort Worth, used the joint coordinates while laying out the facade. The face at each level was divided into quadrants, each having coordinates for 38 joints. For the facade, the architect developed nearly 5,000 coordinates.
Overall, the masonry work involved "quite a layout chore," Brown said. "Ten or 15 years ago this couldn't have been done because there weren't any engineering computers of the type we used. And this makes the Wyndham building unique."
Proven System Speeds Production
Once the calculations were done and the actual construction began, Brown utilized a system with two crews working concurrently on the structure, one crew at the base and the other at the top of the hotel. "We conserved a lot of time with this method," Brown said. "In fact, we were able to work so quickly we actually caught up with the other contracting crews in the more time-consuming process of pouring concrete in the building.
"Through experience we devised a system whereby we needed very little overtime." Brown explained. "I think the speed of installation surprised everyone but us.
Organized in 1955, Dee Brown Masonry is a full-service mason contracting firm specializing in the furnishing and installation of building materials such as brick, block, structural glazed tile, granite systems, prefabricated brick panels, and natural stone of all types.
The owner and operator of the $40 million Wyndham Hotel is Crow Hotel Development Co., an affiliate of both the Trammell Crow Co. and the Dallas Market Center Co. Trammell Crow developed the entire Dallas Market Center as well as the neighboring Loews Anatole Hotel across the freeway. The Dallas Wyndham is the first of four Wyndham Hotels to be built and managed by the two-year-old Wyndham Hotel Co., a division of the Market Center. Other Wyndham Hotels are planned for Austin and Houston, Texas, and Orlando, Florida.