2023 Associated Masonry Contractors of Houston Golden Trowel Honor Award: Residential (Multi-Family)

>>> Upper Kirby, now known as MorningStar Senior Living, is a distinguished 6-story senior living complex located on the south end of Houston’s River Oaks District.  The vision for this project was to provide building that resembles a luxury apartment building rather than one that resembles a hospital.  Camarata Masonry Systems, Ltd. (CMS) supplied and installed the material on the façade of this modern building.  Notable features include alternating color brick courses with recessed brick in some areas, a limestone Grand Entrance with alternating piece sizes and alternating courses which extended to the interior of the building and cast stone parapet caps. 

The exterior façade consisted of four (4) different types of modular size brick: 46,000 Meridian V224 Smooth (white brick), 12,000 Meridian V228 Vertical Scratch (grey brick), 50,000 ACME Twilight Pink and 50,000 ACME Castle Brown. 

Each course of Twilight Pink & Castle Brown brick alternated in color.  This created a special situation which required the use of a shot laser across the façade of each elevation to ensure that every course lined up across all openings, windows, and metal panels.

The west elevation has a solid band at the top of level 1 and the parapet level.  In between these bands the brick pattern varies between solid bands created using multiple courses of white brick and alternating courses of white and grey brick.  The grey brick course was recessed ½” which added another step in installation to assure that each protruding brick course was plumb to the starter course.  The washdown process on this elevation took more time than normal because the ½” recess created a ledge for the mortar to accumulate and several scrubbings were needed to get mortar smears out of the vertical scratched brick.

CMS supplied and installed limestone in two (2) different types of finish and in different sizes at the Grand Entrance, which are summarized below:  

• 1,700 Cream Brushed 3” x 4” x 24”

• 275 Cream Brushed 3” x 4” x 24” Finish Ends

• 1,040 Cream Brushed 3” x 12” x 24”

• 190 Cream Brushed 3” x 12” x 24” Finish Ends

•   625 Cream Antico 3” x 4” x 24”

•   85 Cream Antico 3” x 4” x 24” Finish Ends

In addition to different finishes and sizes, the limestone was installed in alternating courses.  Stone shop drawings were produced to ensure that the proper location of each stone type and size was identified.

The Grand Entrance also consisted of four (4) different soffits using 4” x 24” Cream Brushed limestone in lengths that varied from 6-1/2” to 38”.  The soffit stone started on the outside of the building and carried into the inside of the building.  Mechanical anchors were installed so that each piece of stone could be suspended from the angle iron above.

To complete the masonry façade, a cast stone coping was installed to cap off the parapet.  600 LF of a custom maroon color was supplied and installed to complement the Castle Brown & Twilight Pink brick and 400 LF of buff colored coping was supplied and installed at the white Meridian & grey Vertical Scratch brick locations.

This project is located on highly traveled Richmond Avenue.  Laydown space was very limited and CMS had to ensure that the right material was delivered timely in order to work efficiently and complete this project in a timely manner.  In addition, CMS supplied and installed all of the frame scaffolding for the precedent trades one (1) month ahead of schedule at each elevation which allowed those trades to complete their work before we began our scope of work.