2024 Associated Builders and Contractors - Houston Excellence in Construction - Excellence Award Exterior Finish

>>> One Moody Plaza was originally completed in 1971 and was the tallest building on Galveston Island until 2007. American National Insurance Company (ANICO) is the original owner and primary tenant of the 20-story high rise. In 2020 ANICO broke ground on a six-story, 550-space parking garage across the street from One Moody Plaza. The garage is tied to the building via a covered skybridge that anchors into the plaza of the building. During the construction of the skybridge tie-in to the plaza, a great deal of structural damage was discovered in the basement below the plaza. Over the years the plaza deck had experienced several leaks which caused the structural instability to the building. The concern was that the damage could affect the entire structure if not corrected. Additionally, it was discovered that the 50’ travertine facade walls that encase all four sides of the building at the entry had begun to fail as well, with some panels becoming loose and in danger of falling. At the time these deficiencies were discovered, ANICO had planned to undergo a major interior renovation of all 20 floors of the building including replacing all 1,140 windows but those plans had to be placed on hold as the structural reinforcement and corrective façade work took precedent over the aesthetic renovation work.

The engineering firm Walter P. Moore was hired to design and engineer the structural repairs that were necessary, as well as to design a new anchoring system for the existing stone. The plan was to remove the stone and reinstall it with a new anchoring system that would not fail in hurricane winds. However, once the stone was tested, it was determined that the previously designed 3cm stone thickness was inadequate and the thickness of the stone panels needed to be increased to 4cm. This required procuring new travertine for the façade walls. Because the building was recognized by Galveston Historical Foundation, the building had to maintain its original appearance, just as it was back in the early seventies. The first challenge that Camarata Masonry Systems (CMS) had to overcome was to locate Roman Travertine that would match the stone that was installed in 1971. The existing stone was carefully photographed and the images were forwarded to our Italian fabricators. Several samples were solicited until an almost identical match was found which satisfied ANICO and the Galveston Historical Foundation.

The next obstacle was working with the designed anchoring system. The system had allowed for a two-inch setting space between the concrete substrate and the back of the stone panels. By increasing the thickness of the stone panels, the setting space was reduced by 3/8” thereby complicating the original design. Once the existing stone was removed, it was discovered that the concrete fluctuated from true plane by plus or minus 1”. In some places the setting space was as little as ½”and in other places was as large as 2 ½”. Excessive shimming was not an option because the anchoring system was designed to accommodate only plus or minus ¼”. The solution was to make three different size anchors to accommodate larger setting spaces and design a secondary anchoring system that would accommodate very tight setting spaces; all in harmony with Walter P. Moore’s calculations.

Once an adequate stone thickness was determined and workable anchoring systems were designed CMS was able to complete its shop drawings. The completion of the shop drawings was not typical because technically there were no architectural drawings. The engineer’s drawings had dimensions which were not verified inclusive of the varying substrate. This required that CMS field measure 24 different elevations that were each 50’ tall while determining the exact location of the substrate so the correct anchor could be drawn. Once the shop drawings were complete and approved, we were able to order the stone and release all anchorage for fabrication.

The final challenge was the scaffolding system. The plaza has about 15,000 square feet of covered area. The soffit in this area was found to have asbestos, therefore the entire soffit had to be removed and replaced. The decision was made to build a platform of scaffolding 45’ tall covering the entire soffit area. This scaffold was then modified to accommodate the stone wall installation. CMS had to distribute 1,150 stone panels through a 30 foot maze of scaffolding and then hoist it up to its approximate location. CMS field personnel visited the site several times before the stone was delivered to develop a staging distribution and access path plan with the General Contractor.

All of the pre-construction planning for this project proved to be essential in accomplishing a well-organized, productive and safe installation of the stone. The project was completed on schedule with no recordable accidents. The final product is a successful update of a classic building that maintains the original look of the travertine façade built in 1971.