| Author |
Message |
Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP
Senior Member
Username: lazarcitec
Post Number: 272
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 01:50 pm: |    |
We are being asked to specify onyx for elevator lobby walls on a project. Onyx is a new stone material for us. We would appreciate any advice on the do's and dont's of working and specifying onyx, esp. regarding joints and size availability. This project is in Charlotte - anyone know a good stone source in Charlotte for onyx? We are also using travertine on same project. Thanks |
David R. Combs, CSI, CCS, CCCA
Senior Member
Username: davidcombs
Post Number: 180
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 02:03 pm: | |
I have in my notes from a recent Natural Stone Tile seminar:
Onyx: Easily scratched, very brittle.
Falls withn the Calcium Composition stone category, along with marble, travertine, limestone, and sandstone.
Don't have a source, though. Sorry. |
George A. Everding, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA
Senior Member
Username: geverding
Post Number: 231
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 02:18 pm: | |
Weren't some of the walls of the Barcelona Pavilion onyx? And we thought Mies was dead! |
Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI
Senior Member
Username: rliebing
Post Number: 489
Registered: 02-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 02:22 pm: | |
Found this company-- in Illinois however.
www.stone-design.com/slabs.htm |
Wayne Yancey
Senior Member
Username: wyancey
Post Number: 214
Registered: 05-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 02:27 pm: | |
Jerome,
Onyx is a chemical sedimentary stone which includes limestone, dolomite, alabaster, and some type of travertine and common table salt. Onyx is acutally precipitated in caverns.
The 2003 Marble Institute of America Dimensional Stone Design Manual Version VI. Chapter 7 - Marble and Onyx discusses Onyx in great length.
Marble Institute of America
28901 Clemens Road, Suite 100
Cleveland Ohio 44145
Phone 440-250-9222
Fax 440-250-9223
www.marble-institute.com
Wayne |
Robert E. Woodburn
Senior Member
Username: bwoodburn
Post Number: 143
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 03:04 pm: | |
The best example of an architectural use of onyx I know is the three-story onyx-clad lobby of Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, California, now owned by the Harvest Rock Church and re-opened last year for the Pasadena Symphony. It was designed in the early 1970s by DMJM in Los Angeles; I don't know whether they still have anyone on staff familiar with that project, but you might inquire.
Since onyx is so fragile and expensive, one other possibility well worth exploring would be the approach used by Stone Panels Inc. They laminate a sheet of aluminum honeycomb material to each side of a sheet of stone, and a layer of glass-fiber-reinforced resin over that. Then they saw through the stone sandwiched in the middle to make two panels, and hone or polish the faces down to about 1/8 inch thick. If necessary, I believe, the edges can be mitered and faced with the same stone.
Not only does this economize on the use of the stone, reinforce it against breakage and reduce the panel weight, it makes it much more resistant to damage. I'll never forget being given a travertine-faced sample and a claw hammer years ago, and being invited to hammer away. I put it down on the floor and gave it as hard a whack as I could. It dimpled the travertine face a little, that's all. It didn't even crack, let alone shatter.
I believe Philip Johnson's 70-story Williams (Transco) Tower in Houston uses these panels, edged with narrow aluminum (like a thin picture frame) and separated by reveals, to line the elevator cabs (as I said, it's light).
If a panel were damaged, it could be quickly replaced with one of their spare panels that were cut from the same block, but if the layout doesn't lend itself to modular regularity, such panels might have to be fabricated to size later from matching onyx panels (already laminated, split and polished) kept on hand for that purpose. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 02:21 pm: | |
Full disclosure, I am a sales rep but I do not sell the product mentioned below. Simply trying to help architect with good product.
Onyx does have drawbacks as mentioned above.
There is a very high quality, man-made wall cladding called NeoParies. View information at www.tgpamerica.com. Look under surfaces. |
Steve Lewis (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 03:00 pm: | |
Jerome,
Depending on your clients design intent, there are some simulated stone products that provide a translucent 'glowing' effect. There is a crystallized glass product called Glare that offers a translucency much more consistent than Onyx. E-mail for product photos.
Regards,
Steve Lewis, CSI, MIA
TGP America
www.tgpamerica.com
stevel@fireglass.com |
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