ARRIS.clip: A last minute solution for a modern design

Architects for the BBVA Compass bank envisioned a modern façade, clad with mostly metal panel. However, during the building permit phase, the City rejected the plan as they require that all new buildings be clad with a defined percentage of masonry. The original design did not come close to meeting this requirement and a last minute solution was needed.

This unexpected requirement, coming so late in the design/bid phase, presented a significant challenge in light of the current building design. The architects knew that masonry simply wouldn’t ‘do’ what the metal panel would. Typically, masonry is not hung off the substrate, as it’s too heavy.  Natural stone was a brief consideration, but since the budget had already been set for the metal panel option, it was far too expensive.

Fortunately, Arriscraft’s ARRIS-clip came into focus for the design team. This thin stone product could be hung off the substrate, like metal panel, and would be less expensive than a natural stone assembly.

Due to the challenging design, Arriscraft worked closely with the design team to maintain their original vision – and to their amazement with stone instead of metal. Following are a few specific areas that had to be addressed with the design team:

	Sloping wall: required sloping corner units Alignment (between sloping and vertical walls): units in the sloping wall had to align with the straight vertical units in the non-sloping walls (units are all produced in standard heights and when you slope them they’re actually shorter in the vertical direction)
Soffit conditions: transitioning from the vertical walls to the soffit and running the stone over the ribbon windows

Arriscraft collaborated with the design team to work through all of the building challenges and details. Technical staff created shop drawings for the entire stone façade, laid everything out and detailed it to make sure nothing was left to chance. Arriscraft’s staff mason visited the site for the first few days of construction to ensure the installers were on the right track.

This project is a great example of Arriscraft’s customized service and collaborative nature, and also shows the design community that stone suits modern designs and can be used in a similar fashion to metal panel.

Product: ARRIS-clip Renaissance^® Champagne (Smooth and Rocked)
Project: BBVA Compass
Location: Kingwood TX
Architect: Ziegler Cooper Architects