Stanford Deck Skylights Get Extreme Makeover

By: Heidi Y. Granke, AIA

Original Project Conditions and Goals
The original problem, which this project corrected, was water infiltration into the below-ground restroom building. The existing conditions included a porous concrete deck and porous brick masonry walls. The existing roof structure is a concrete deck, which had an approximately 1 ½” shallow concrete topping. Water was absorbing into the concrete and seeping into the restroom below. The task of waterproofing the building was achieved by injecting the walls with Hydro Active Injecto Grout by de neef Construction Chemicals Inc. and by adding an Elasto Deck 5500 waterproofing
membrane onto the deck.

Stanford original deck installation

Other constraints on the project included: requirements to match the grade level along the arcade, existing stairs and curbs at grills in adjacent buildings, no water could drain over the arcade and the finished appearance needed to match as closely as possible the existing appearance. The grade at the arcade is only about 1” above the structural slab over the bathroom.

Original Topping Installation
There were several issues related to the topping installation. First, the polymer topping is more difficult to work than typical concrete topping. The polymers, aggregate, and fibers in the mix make it stiffer. Second, the polymers in the mix and the shallow depth make the topping set up more quickly than standard concrete. Third, the topping was installed by a roofing installer not familiar with working with polymers. The result was an uneven slab that had low spots with minor ponding. Another issue was the perceived wetness of the topping. A sealer was applied over the topping to prevent dirt infiltration, which also increased the water repellency of the topping and made the topping look shiny. The wet appearance of the slab was perceived as slippery. However, the aggregate in the topping and the sandblasted finish provide a surface with good traction, even when wet.

Skylights
The project team decided to try to repair the skylights to insure that the entire deck system was watertight. After looking into several different methods and possible suppliers, it was decided to send the skylights to Circle Redmont for revaluation and repair or replacement. Circle Redmont determined that the cast-iron pans were severally corroded under the concrete topping and therefore recommended replacement over repair. HDCCO sent a sample of the concrete topping to Circle Redmont for them to match the color. D. M. Figley sent the topping materials for Circle Redmont to test and consider for use in the skylights. They had difficulty with the polymer topping mix cracking when it was sand blasted. Therefore, they decided to use their own proprietary mix instead of the Exel-crete. Multiple samples were sent to the project team for review until the sample was approved. The final sample was approved on October 29, 2009. The skylights were reviewed on site on December 15. They were installed on December 23, 2009. 

Topping Repairs
In 2009, as the project repairs and the skylight installation are being planned, the project team once again reviewed the topping materials. At the July 14, 2009 meeting, Sapna expressed concerns about the polymer slab because of the testing that was conducted by the skylight manufacturer., Circle Redmont. Circle Redmont found the polymer concrete unsuitable for installation in the skylights because the material cracked when sandblasted. Therefore, the types of materials and possible combinations were again reviewed; including a few options not previously review.

The final decision was to re-top to the slab with the same material, but to apply it in small controlled areas so that it could be worked more easily. 

Stanford new deck

Final Testing
Hathaway Dinwiddie tested the deck and skylights for water tightness and drainage on December 29, 2009. At 9 am the deck was flooded with water and was monitored every hour throughout the day to insure that there were no leaks. The weather was 51 degrees Fahrenheit at the beginning of the day and the high for the day as 56 degrees. The day was mostly overcast, so little or no direct sunlight fell on the deck. The deck and skylights performed well: there were no leaks and the deck drained
properly. Attached are the hour by hour photographs of the testing. 

Stanford new deck watertest

Conclusion
The project accomplished the primary goal of making the restroom water tight.

Stanford bathroom underneath

Circle Redmont’s Solar White glass block and metal panel system was featured on a home improvement episode of the syndicated show, Bob Vila. In the episode, Bob Vila integrates Solar White flooring into an older New England Victorian home remodeling project. For the Victorian Makeover Project project, SolarWhite Panels™ were designed into the master bed/bath area providing a custom glass accent flooring area while recycling the natural daylight into the lower level. Additional SolarWhite Panels™ were installed in the second and first floors perpendicular to each other, brightening the interior halls and bringing natural light into the basement. The video as well as an article can be viewed here.

Excerpts from the script are below:

BV: “Mary Lou pace is here from Circle Redmont which is the company that manufactures the glass block floors that we’re putting in here now. This is not a product I’ve ever used before in the kind of a New England residential remodeling projects. And I think is really neat because architecturally it really brings that feeling of bringing the new into the old problem. But, I’d be afraid of breaking this.”

CR: “You know we don’t have to be afraid of breaking this. It actually is a extruded aluminum framework and it’s completely structural. What this product is incorporating is actually hollow glass block.”

BV: “If you drop something on the glass blocks, it won’t shatter?”

CR: “No. In residential applications this product is perfect. Typically flooring is to maybe forty pounds per square or twenty pounds per square but this glass is calced at something much higher sixty pounds.”

BV: “That is a tempered glass block as well?”

CR: “No actually the hollow glass blocks are actually a new class of annealed glass – very strong, double sided, double faced.”

BV: “So your company creates these monolithic panels and it’s always custom right depending on what the architect specified. We’ve got three of them here. Well two of them are going in this area then one right here. In the landing on the second floor and then another one in the landing on the third floor and it works with a skylight that we have a there’s so that we should theoretically get daylight all the way down to here.”

BV: “Let’s flip the panel up. This side is frosted.”

CR: “Yes. What we do is we actually do a sandblasted finish and the reason why we do that because for foot resistance.”

BV: “Oh beautiful, let’s see it from the second floor. Boy, that really looks beautiful out here. The unusual balcony well I can step on it. Circle Redmont makes these floor systems.”

The old City Hall in Melbourne, Florida, was being rebuilt into a new architectural landmark befitting this thriving, technology and aerospace enriched, coastal community. Circle Redmont was chosen to create the interior focal point of the 58,279-square-foot building.

The design was to build an inlaid glass floor of Melbourne’s city seal to greet visitors in the lobby. Circle Redmont fashioned the seal, as well as glass panels in the floor of each level, adding a huge “wow” factor to the building.

“This building is definitely our centerpiece,” Certified General Vice President and senior project manager James Grisham said. “We’re very proud of it. Very proud.”

Tile floors and Mediterranean-inspired colors line the public hallways on each of the five floors— save the unfinished fourth floor.

The Millennium Park Fountain, a gift to the people of the City of Chicago by the Crown Family, is an interactive masterpiece designed by Spanish artist, Jaume Plensa. The integration of new, untested material and LED technology into a monument, which is to last decades, presented unprecedented aesthetic, technical, material and fabrication challenges.

When the Crown family commissioned Spanish artist Juame Plensa to design a monument for Chicago, the palette he used consisted of water, light, color, technology, interactivity, expansive size, imagery and glass. His final concept took on the shape of two massive, monolithic fountains with cascading water and LED video images projecting through solid glass brick walls. All of these elements presented unique challenges, especially Juame’s vision of colossal, continuous glass brick walls.

After months and months, world-renowned teams of engineers working with fabricators failed to come up with a successful design solution. Just when it seemed Juame’s concept would have to be abandoned, [the developers] learned of Circle Redmont® and brought its experienced teams on board to rekindle the concept.

The challenge of the project is to structure each of the 50’ high towers without blocking or penetrating the LED wall directly behind the glass bricks. The walls of the towers are made of custom 5” x 10” x 2” glass bricks secured into a 1” x 1/8” stainless steel grid. The “water white” glass bricks are produced by hand-pouring molten glass into cast iron molds by a 100-year-old glass foundry in Pennsylvania.

The top of the tower is designed to incorporate a concealed trough regulating the flow of water down the face of the glass bricks. The water trough, roof and LED are all supported by structural frames, which are independent of the glass brick skin allowing for expansion and contraction of the tower. The apparent simplicity of this structure allows the water and the projected faces to be the focus of the fountain. Circle Redmont proved it could successfully design, engineer and manufacture the two 52’ high by 25’ wide glass brick structures. Prefabricated glass brick wall panels were built at Circle Redmont’s facility and then erected at the job site under Circle Redmont supervision. All materials, including the glass blocks, were manufactured in the United States.

As a dramatic centerpiece to the park, the two towers appear as simple, translucent, glass brick forms that glow with internal light on three sides, while on the fourth large LED images of faces portray Chicagoans of all ages, and backgrounds.

Today, the Millennium Fountain Towers in Chicago stand as a staggering example of American ingenuity and engineering. They were built to last so they can be enjoyed by millions of visitors to Millennium Park for many years to come.