Finish Interior
This project is a seventeen (17) story Class A office building on the west side of Houston, constructed as a third tower for the adjacent Energy Tower I (Technip Building) and Energy Tower II.
Camarata Masonry Systems (CMS) was responsible for the procurement and installation of over 1,200 sq. ft. of China Absolute Black granite floors and base, 9,600 sq. ft. of Indian Tan Brown granite floors, walls and lavatory tops, 8,900 sq. ft. of Italian marble resin based agglomerate stone floors and walls, 4,000 each 8” CMU and 100 cu. ft. of cast stone copings. In addition, CMS supplied and installed over 1,900 lin. ft. of solid stainless steel bar inserts in the floors and walls. All corners were mitered, ground and polished to create a solid and seamless appearance. Due to design revisions that delayed the shop drawing and review process, stone was required to be on the jobsite, from various countries of origin, within 2 ½ months from final approval of drawings. Camarata was then tasked with installing all the stone walls, base, floors and lavatory tops in a three month time frame (over 4,900 pieces) while working around other trades.
While Energy Tower I was constructed using Roman Travertine, the owner and Architect preferred a more homogeneous, color consistent and durable product that would better withstand the everyday traffic anticipated in a fully occupied office tower. They chose marble resin based agglomerate as the main wall and flooring component. While this material is very durable, it is nearly impossible to patch due to the uniformity of the color and grain structure. Extreme care was required to eliminate chipping during the handling and installation process. Even the potential chipping of the delicate post installed stone edges was addressed by CMS through the use of a proprietary diamond impregnated tool developed for specifically for the project. The tool was used to micro-bevel the finished edges of the installed flooring prior to grouting in order to minimize the probability of edge chipping. Additionally, due to the frenetic pace of the project and the close proximity of other trades, protection of the stone was paramount. Finally, the design required a high degree of precision as several stone system elements had to align perfectly with other building components in an installation covering hundreds of linear feet on two floors.
The end result is a visually stunning interior executed to the highest standards which will provide a durable installation for the Owner and occupants.