Masonry Magazine May 2004 Page. 37
MASONRY COMPUTER ESTIMATING
Now in 3D
by Tradesmen's Software
Important to the design vision for the project was conveying a level of complexity that was similar to the architectural style of the original building.
WHEN MEMBERS OF ST. MARK'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH in Glen Ellyn, Ill., determined that they needed a new facility to house classrooms, a shop and a new parish hall, they envisioned a design that would be sympathetic to the church's existing nave and adjoining educational building, which feature gothic references and a cut-limestone veneer.
Execution of the project presented a number of masonry challenges. Creating a building design that was compatible with that of existing structures, sourcing stone to meet design specifications, and effecting a suitable mortar application were all essential to realizing a cohesive campus from an architectural standpoint.
"From our earliest conversations with the client, it was very important to them that the new addition matched the existing buildings as closely as possible," recalls Project Architect Andrew Caputo. "So we knew from the beginning that that was a primary objective."
Caputo and other design staff from Williams Architects, Carol Stream, Ill, reviewed existing architectural drawings for the nave and the educational buildings, as well as photographed and observed details of the structures. They also studied and recorded random stone and cut-stone shapes around copings, arches, windowsills and lintels.
"Detail is important in gothic styling, but so is massing," notes Caputo, citing steeply pitched, sloping roofs characteristic of the genre. The design of the new 14,000-square-foot addition, he points out, references the proportions and gable roof slopes of St. Mark's existing nave and education building.
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