COLLEGE CAST

Ace craftsmanship, modern concrete practice uphold Frank ’s textile block design

With more than a half-century’s experience in cast stone and masonry production, Eugene Castonguay anchored Stone & Lime’s Sharp Center textile block contract. A switch to the Teflon-coated plastic inserts and wet cast process boosted quality after he and colleagues started with wood inserts and a dry casting regimen.

PHOTOS: Michael Maguire (construction), Phyllis Maguire (shop) | TheMaguires of Lakeland FEATURE ARCHITECTURAL PRECAST

Famed architect ’s Anchored with the Sharp Family fund- stacked with no mortar joints, meaning no Usonian house design, calling for manu- ing, the project has progressed under room for error in the height. If one block ally crafted, precast “textile block,” has Florida Southern President Dr. Anne was off one-eighth or one-sixteenth of an become a reality after 50-plus years at Kerr; historic building restoration spe- inch, the wall could start turning. The , thanks to the cialist Jeff Baker, partner of Albany, Teflon-coated plastic made the forms last school’s president plus a determined archi- N.Y.-based Mesick, Cohen, Wilson, Baker longer and increased accuracy. It's cut to tect, contractor and fabricator team apply- Architects; and, Stone & Lime Imports one-thousandth of a inch.” ing today’s best practices and code Inc., a North Brookfield, Mass., contrac- The concrete mix design was revised compliance measures to a project with tor specializing in turnkey precast or from original specs—heavy on local ma- pre-war roots. Backed by more than $2 stone fabrication and erection. terials—to increase durability while million in initial donations, construction The last of the signature concrete textile maintaining the same finish as vintage on the 1,700-sq.-ft. project, repurposed as blocks for the Sharp Center was erected in textile blocks, which were molded from the Sharp Family Tourism and Education March. Around 2,000 units in 47 different a sandstone and coquina shells mixture. Center, began in the spring of 2011 and is varieties were required for the interior and Project principals experimented with scheduled for completion this summer. exterior walls. The original textile blocks at more than 50 mixes for the new blocks, Wright, who died in 1959, designed 18 Florida Southern were hand built on-site by creating hundreds of samples before ar- structures for the Lakeland, Fla., college, students utilizing Wright-designed molds; riving at the final composition: Fine and of which 12 were built between 1938– the Sharp project initially saw authentic coarse aggregate from Pennsylvania and 1958. They comprise the Child of the Sun wooden mold designs recreated by 79-year- an earth tone binder based on a natural collection, the largest single-site Wright old artisan, Eugene Castonguay, in Stone & cement from France, Prompt, sourced installation in the world, although con- Lime’s Massachusetts shop. Florida South- from Vicat S.A.—parent of Birmingham, siderably lesser known than the archi- ern arranged to use the specs with their Ala.-based National Cement Co. tect’s two most prominent works, owner, the Wright Foundation, based at the “Our blocks are nearly twice as dense in western Pennsylvania and architect’s Taliesen West retreat in Arizona. and strong as the original blocks, which the Guggenheim Museum in New York After encountering some durability is- means they will not erode in the same City. Landmarks among the completed sues with plywood forms, Castonguay fashion,” says architect Jeff Baker. In- structures are the 160-ft.-diameter Water and crews moved to resin-coated form- deed, the original concrete has proved Dome, covered esplanades, Annie Pfeiffer work. They also switched to Teflon- unstable in the Florida climate, he adds, Chapel, Danforth Chapel, and Polk County coated plastic inserts, fabricated with a with the Child of the Sun Collection Science Building. The latter was the last CNC cutter to exact specifications. To being added to World Monument Fund’s to be completed, and houses the world’s prevent cracking and preserve detailing, 2008 list of 100 most endangered sites in only Wright-designed planetarium. the inserts fit inside the mold and were the world—primarily due to the decay- The Usonian house concept, with its removed after the block was released. ing of the textile blocks. textile block enclosure, was envisioned Mold edges were tapered 2.5 degrees to Deterioration issues surrounding the for Florida Southern faculty. As an au- augment stripping. Early product was dry original grout tube and steel reinforce- thentic Wright design on its original site, cast, but exhibited susceptibility to ment methods on Wright’s vintage the Sharp Center becomes the first new water penetration and lacked fine detail. Florida Southern buildings were also ad- Usonian textile block project commis- Stone & Lime switched to a wet cast dressed, notes Baker. During Sharp Cen- sioned since 1964. Wall connection details process in which blocks were set for two ter construction, grout was injected and other engineering adjustments were hours in the form before removal, and under pressure; silicone caulk, unlike made as building codes and hurricane sur- then acid etched for an open-pore, dry- clay in the original buildings, was used vivability ordinances have changed signif- cast appearance. to set the blocks and prevent the grout icantly since the Wright era. However, the “At the beginning, I saw lots of problems from leaking. The new reinforcing original plan’s overall design and struc- with the design,” says Stone & Lime Pres- scheme combines vertical, stainless steel tural system have not been impacted. ident Ken Uracius. “Some of the blocks are threaded bars and couplers, horizontal

(left photo) Thomas Crean Jr. (left), Tim Pollard and fellow Stone & Lime crew members prepared 47 molds in a contract requiring 2,000-plus pieces and six truckloads from Massachu- setts to Florida. Michael Maguire (left) of Lakeland, Fla., who has chronicled the Sharp Center precast fabrication and construction for the website, www.buildingtheusonian- house.com, confers with Stone & Lime President Ken Uracius.

WWW.CONCRETEPRODUCTS.COM APRIL 2012 | 23 FEATURE BY CP STAFF epoxy coated bars, and, custom designed steel wythe connectors. Furthermore, wall cavities are filled with a polyisocya- nurate foam instead of being left open, per the original design.

Prepared by Josephine Smith and Don Marsh with information from Florida Southern College; Mesick Cohen Wilson Baker Architects LLP; and, University of Southern California PhD candidate, Ed- ward Losch, P.E., S.E., LEED AP.

After 15 months of construction—and nearly 53 years since its architect’s death—the Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center will join 12 other Frank Lloyd Wright buildings on the Florida Southern cam- pus. Project principals adhered to the original Uson- ian textile block scheme for a mortarless wall system, but changed the concrete mix design and reinforce- ment detail for durability and code compliance. Lakeland-based Michael and Phyllis Maguire, veterans of journalism, art, photography and re- lated endeavors, launched a website, www.build- ingtheusonianhouse.com, to track the Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center and spot- light the craftsmanship and expertise project principals have brought to Frank Lloyd Wright’s newest landmark.

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