In 1998, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York decided to replace the stucco facade of the 20-story Westchester County Courthouse. The stucco, which had been applied over concrete block walls only 18 years earlier, had begun to discolor, and sections of metal lath over the concrete block walls had started to rust and show through the stucco.

The scope of the renovation would require nearly 200,000 square feet of flat GFRC wall panels, window fin covers, spandrel beam covers, and column covers, and would need to be undertaken from the outside of the building because the functions of the courts and offices could not be disturbed.

More than 2,000 GFRC panels were fabricated between September, 1999 and March, 2000. Panel erection began in November, 1999 and was completed in April, 2001. This project is one of the largest single building GFRC reclads ever undertaken in the US.

This hospital had originally been clad using EIFS wall panels designed to simulate stucco, the predominant look of the Miami area. However, during the hurricane season, the EIFS cladding had been damaged on several occasions by wind-blown debris, forcing the evacuation of some patients. The decision was made to re-clad selected sections of the hospital with GFRC panels.

Recladding panels had to be lightweight since they were suspended (cantilevered) out over the existing EIFS panels and attached to the building structure through holes cut in the underlying EIFS panels. They also had to be erected and attached to the building structure from the outside so that patient care would be minimally impacted during construction.

Before GFRC panels could be approved for the reclad, the design had to be tested and certified by Miami Dade County to withstand Category 2 and 4 hurricane conditions without exposing the building interior to outside wind and rain. To simulate these conditions, a wooden 2×4 stud weighing 27 lbs. was propelled into the GFRC panel at 120 mph. The specially designed GFRC panel was able to absorb the impact without loss of sealing integrity.

Category 2 panels were used to re-clad administrative offices, while the Category 4 panels were used for patient and operating rooms. Click HERE to see the Dade County Notice of Acceptance (NOA) and design of the Category 2 panels.

Nearly 90,000 square feet of highly profiled and articulated GFRC panels were successfully installed and painted in vibrant children’s colors.