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Project: St. Peters Anglican Church – Exterior Cladding

 

This cathedral style church is 36,000 square feet.

• The cladding of the building is constructed using architectural cast stone, wet cast architectural precast and architectural GFRC. Cast stone is the primary design element of the project.
• The building has three 100 foot high bell towers, 24 spires, 7 crosses and two 12 panel precast rose windows.
• The project required the production of 68 molds not including many block-downs and mold adjustments.  There were 4858 pieces of decorative stone used on the project.

 

 

Advanced Architectural Stone was presented with challenge of determining which casting methods were best for the ornamental pieces of stone including the spires, crosses and rose windows. After discussion with the masons and other installers on the project, the AAS team was able to make precise recommendations on casting methods and best practices in installation.

 

 

 

Architectural GFRC was used for the crowns and caps at high elevation.

 

 

Since the process for European stain glass is not precise dimensionally, the accuracy and size of the molds for the rose windows and the spires were the most difficult part of production. Custom mold making technology of AAS made this possible while also keeping the project within budget and on time.

All pieces of manufactured decorative stone needed to have the same visual effect. The wet cast architectural precast and GFRC pieces went through an additional finishing process. After the first acid wash a slurry coat was applied to match the control sample of the dry cast pieces. Another wash and finish was then completed after the slurry application.

 

 

 

 

The look the church designers wanted could only be constructed from natural carved stone or manufactured cast stone (combination of dry and wet).

The custom manufactured architectural stone using both the dry cast and wet cast methods was critical to the success of the design made the project feasible –

• Manufactured stone is more cost effective compared to natural stone
• Manufacturing capabilities of AAS plant made it possible to meet the aggressive timeline.
• The AAS team was bale to adjust the cast stone sizes during construction, particularly at the rose windows.
• Computerized color lab and automated batch plant helped create the seamless look between the wet and dry architectural cast stone products was also an important achievement on the project.