Document gD4yKJ8rkYEmJDn65BEK1qe3N

Borrowed from Egypt for beauty in Kalamazoo Jl laster & pyramids create "sculptured" contemporary ceiling GLASS FIBER MOULD is placed over an angle iron frame. After being greased, mould is covered with Red Top No. 1 Moulding Plaster. Sheets of fabric are pressed into wet plaster, and more plaster applied. Built up to a H-in. thickness, coffer is further braced with thin rein forcing rods and allowed to set. BB011 0277 ! mploying present-day refinements of both form and Ematerial found in ancient Egypt, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Chicago architects, have created a first floor ad ministrative office of great beauty for Upjohn Company's new headquarters in Kalamazoo, Mich. The ceiling of this vast area consists of 4,415 pyramid-shaped coffers, formed with Red Top No. 1 Moulding Plaster, a modern material evolved from crude plaster used in the great pyramids built centuries ago. The peak of each "pyramid" accommodates a fluorescent fixture, and while the moulding plaster is not sound-absor bent, the pyramid shape reflects and diffuses both light and sound to bring visual- and audio-comfort to the great room. Of course the plaster meets all fire resistance requirements. Plaster coffers were also installed outside glass curtain walls to give the illusion of carrying the interior office space outside. Special heating keeps these coffers dry in rainy and winter weather. MORE THAN 4,000 pyramid-shaped plaster coffers cover spa cious administration quarters of Upjohn Company's general office building. Coffers continue outside glass curtain walls. Berti Plastering Co., Detroit, held the lathing and plaster ing contract for the Upjohn building. The job of casting the plaster ceiling coffers was subcontracted to Brioschi Studio, St. Paul, Minn., and Mario Catani Co., North Bergen, N. J. Amerigo Brioschi took charge of making the moulds at the studios while Mario Catani supervised the 28 skilled crafts Burlap strips, steel rods and plaster wadding were used as reinforcing. To maintain a constant flow of coffers for installation men who built the coffers on the job. without delays, a production assembly was set up with More than 13,000 bags of Red Top No. 1 Moulding Plaster were used to form the coffers over glass fiber plastic moulds. The product's uniformity of working qualities and eight three-man teams--each team assigned to 16 moulds. Once the system got rolling, an average of about 77 pyramid coffers were produced each day. The coffers, 5 Vi ft. square, setting characteristics made it well suited for the job. are attached to a specially designed steel ceiling structure. RE ADY-TO-INSTAll coffer is transported by rolling dolly. A cable raises coffer into position (seecover), after which corners are bolted to ceiling frame. MOULD IS REMOVED after coffer has been bolted. Because of greasing, mould breaks free neatly, leav ing smooth finish on exposed underside of coffer. SCOOP BEINGTOUCHEDupbyplasterer (right) is draft-free inlet for heat transfer and air conditioning. BB011 0278 3 C. C. STILES, Roswell, N. M., plastering contractor shown in school addition. Original building, erected about eight years ago, is concrete block construc tion. Because of Stiles, the addition is Trussteel studs, lath and plaster. ontractor converts town Shows "what one man can do" ot all the educators in Roswell, N.M., are teaching N school. At least one is a plastering contractor, C. C. Stiles; and in eight years he has taught all the leading local architects that with Trussteel studs, Rocklath plaster base and plaster, he can give them superior partitions and ceilings for a price that meets or beats the cost of any other system. "Our only trouble now," says Stiles, "comes with out-oftown architects. They have often had poor experience with plastering in their own city, and we have real trouble con vincing them that lathing and plastering can be done well. I tell my men that I want every job to be better than the last, and that is the way I am going to have it." Until eight years ago every school in Roswell was being built with concrete block partitions. Stiles took his first step toward changing this when local architects became dis- ^ satisfied with high sound transmission through the block 00 partitions. Stiles was called in to plaster one side of the 2 SUPPORTING STEEL COLUMN is flanked by doors on either side. Stiles' unique Trussteel stud "H-Beam" is tied in with this roof support and the rough door frames to create a remarkably rigid wall. o ru N4 INVENTIVE LATHING FOREMAN, Bill Wilson (above), has created many of the advanced methods used on Stiles jobs, including system of Trussteel stud "H-Beam'' for super-rigidity at door frames (right). 4 to lath and plaster NEW MEXICO MILITARY INSTITUTE is source of frequent jobs for Stiles as school expands and alters its facilities. block. The second time he got such a call he also submitted a comparative price on a Trussteel stud lath and plaster partition, together with sound and fire ratings. Thus he showed the architects that with current methods, lath and plaster could provide better sound barrier properties and a smooth wall in less space and for less cost than concrete block, plastered one side. With this first job as a starting point, Stiles approached all the architects in town, and had excellent results in win ning contracts for the steady stream of schools and hospitals, office buildings, motels, shopping centers, a new post office and other jobs being built to serve this growing city of 35,000 population. His price and quality advantage on acoustical ceilings has also brought Stiles a great deal of work. In St. Mary's Hospital, the architect added corridor ceilings to the acous tical plaster contract after seeing the beautiful job Stiles was doing with this material in patient rooms. The result was a jump in the plastering contract from $80,000 to $110,000. In a shopping center Stiles bid on the ceiling and beat the acoustical tile price by $600. When an orthopedic hospital went out for construction bids, Stiles raised the plastering valuation from $7,000 to $20,000 by showing the architect how he could do a better, more economical job by using Trussteel studs, lath and plaster. The savings accomplished with the Trussteel stud partition are greater than those realized in actual partition erection, and super-salesman Stiles is quick to bring these to the attention of architects and builders. John Blea, one of the two partners in John Blea Electrical Co. of Roswell, says, "There is no comparison between block partitions and Trussteel stud partitions from our electrical work stand point. It certainly shows up on our time tickets, and we take it into consideration when we figure a job. In selling plaster Stiles often uses a comparison of insur ance cost figures for an acoustical tile ceiling vs. those for his acoustical plaster ceding. Stiles has his own method of applying acoustical plaster which achieves the perfection he seeks. He developed it to prevent streaks that sometimes come into acoustical plaster jobs. Scratch and brown coats on the Stdes job are regular Red Top basecoat plaster, job-mixed with perlite; but before the brown coat can set, Stiles browns the job again with continued O UNUSUAL RIGIDITY AT DOOR FRAMES is achieved on Stiles jobs with unique lathing method. Floor runner is bent up and tied to rough frame (arrow). "H-Beam" is created by turning one Trussteel stud sideways, boxing it with two others and wire-tying. FRANK 5TANDHARDT of Voorhees & Standhardt, archi tects, achieves proper acoustics for classroom by specifying concrete block for one exterior wall, plaster for partitions, plus an acoustical plaster ceiling. "We need at least a 40 db sound barrier between classrooms, and Trussteel stud par titions provide this easily," declares Standhardt. MONTERREY SCHOOL, by Architect Frank Standhardt, is one of several Roswell schools for which Stiles sold lath and plaster. Town converted continued Sabinite acoustical plaster, so that the two brown coats set together. After the Sabinite is well dried he trowels on a light coat of Audicote acoustical plaster, troweling it smooth, and again lets this dry before spraying with a final texture coat of Audicote acoustical plaster. For Stiles the system has been foolproof and trouble-free. With a total of 1 Vs inches of plaster on the ceiling, he gets a two-hour fire rating from local officials. Stiles is anything but a fast-talking promoter. First of all he is a fine craftsman who is exacting and demanding in the quality of work he requires from his crews. His personal sincerity about giving his customers a good job is genuine. He is thoughtful and studious in developing a method of doing the best possible plastering job under a certain job condition. He regularly calls on architects to discuss their current projects and shows how his use of the plastering industry's latest methods can give them a better job at a competitively low cost. Frank Standhardt, a prominent Roswell architect, has this to say: "In this town we architects are able to specify plaster in confidence because we know we have a local contractor who will give us a good, conscientious job." Thus C. C. Stiles of Roswell personifies the answer to the questioning title of U.S.G.'s motion picture for the plaster ing industry, "What Can One Man Do?" Every day he demonstrates that one man can do plenty about changing an anti-plaster concrete block market to a totally lath and plaster market. fNE Plaster industry film strips entitled "What Can One Man Do" and "One Man Can Do Plenty" developed by United States Gypsum Company are filled with selling ideas for lathing and plastering contractors. They are available for viewing through any U.S.G. salesman or the nearest CPLIA chapter office. 6 PLASTERING FOR PETROLEUM BUILDING, largest office structure in Roswell, was won by Stiles through use of advanced lathing and plastering methods which offered cost and quality advantages. PLASTERING CONTRACT jumped from 580,000 to $110,000 for expansion of St. Mary's Hospital, where Stiles demonstrated his workmanship. B B O ll 0281 VENTILATED BOOTH in new U.S.G. Research Center equipped with alt utilities for conducting research. In a simulated kiln, scien tist is making finishing lime from clam shells. This is being done on a commercial scale in U.S.G.'s New Orleans plant. U.S.G. scientists press gypsum research in new wonder laboratory fter fifty years of making and researching plaster for bedding down and holding plate glass while it is being A. and plaster products, United States Gypsum has built ground smooth. a multi-million-dollar Research Center in Des Plaines, 111. While some teams work on the everyday problems of the to probe even deeper into mysteries of gypsum and lime. What can scientists learn about gypsum and lime that the years have not already taught them? The entire gypsum plaster industry of today is based on the discovery, years ago, of methods for controlling and altering the natural setting properties of gypsum. Plaster research has reduced the expansion of gypsum as it sets to l/10th of its normal expansion in untreated state. Yet research is still directed to the further refinement and increased precision of this art of set control and stabilization. In the lime laboratory, scientists are continuing to refine the process of producing lime from clam shells, a method now successfully in use in United States Gypsum's New Orleans lime plant. The Research Center's industrial gypsum section works industry, another section of the Center houses an even more specialized and select group of people who are free of deadlines and are committed only to basic, pure science as it relates to gypsum. They observe that work on gypsum through the years has determined how it reacts under a wide variety of given conditions, but no one has bothered to find out "why." Some day they hope to be able to answer these "whys." In addition to scientists working on the future, the new United States Gypsum Research Center has a department working on the present. The technical services division is the research arm of U.S.G. men in the field. Its purpose is to help solve the immediate problems of customers who are building and finishing all types of structures. Fully equipped, handsomely housed, the new Research Center is tangible expression of United States Gypsum regularly to improve plaster used as disposable forms for Company's determination to maintain its leadership and complicated shapes of missile components, and plaster used retain its reputation as "The Greatest Name in Building." SPREAD OF PIASTER poured through aeonststometer is measured on circular graph. MACHINE APPLICATION TEST in structural laboratories, reveals pumpability of plaster. BENDING MACHINE aids development of newwire-fabricatedlathingclipsandsystems. BB011 0282 ISSUE 3 1961 RED TOPICS MAGAZINE 300 W. ADAMS ST., CHICAGO 6, ILL RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED f ,99 % HISTORICAL FIL5 %Ade-J(a*& 0>KtectUfH' tfUceimd________ DO NOT DESTROY B B O ll 0203 RT-IJ