Project: CHI St. Luke’s Health Springwoods Village
Finish Exterior
CHI St Luke’s Health Springwoods Village is a new seven story facility that serves as a medical center and medical office building located in Spring, Texas. CHI St. Luke’s is currently seeking a LEED Gold Certification for this 180,000 sq. ft. structure and adjacent 3,900 sq. ft. mechanical building.
Camarata Masonry Systems, Ltd. (CMS) was responsible for the shop drawings, engineering, supply and installation of 26,000 sq. ft. of 2” thick smooth finish Cedar Hill Cream Limestone. CMS installed 4,200 pieces of the limestone in a typical 2’ x 4’ piece size with a running bond pattern. The intent was to have the stone cladding anchored to the heavy gauge stud back up walls; however, the stud back up walls were to be covered with 3” thick rigid foam insulation preventing access for the structural attachment of the stone anchors. The removal of pockets of insulation required for the attachment of the stone anchors would have compromised the integrity of the insulation system. As such, CMS designed a continuous 10 gauge Z shape that was anchored to the stud wall simultaneously with the placement of the 3” rigid insulation. For coordination purposes, the furnishing and placement of the insulation was ultimately added to the CMS scope of work. The outer leg of the Z served to encapsulate the top edge of the insulation and provide a structurally sound surface for the attachment of the stone anchors, without any penetrations of the 3” insulation. The continuous Z shape was precisely located vertically to coincide with the horizontal stone joints and vertical leg of the stone anchors. An additional run of the Z shape was added at each floor line to accommodate the necessary moving joint stone anchorage. The 10 gauge Z shape performed very well; offering the uninterrupted placement of the insulation and the minimal deflection that was anticipated within our engineered calculations.
Additionally, CMS installed 4,500 units of masonry block for the exterior and interior walls at the mechanical building and then clad exterior of the mechanical building with the 2” Cedar Hill Limestone. Lastly, CMS furnished and installed 2,700 units of smooth finish block site walls, strategically located around the perimeter of the building.