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Materials: Reynobond ACM allows retrofitted skyscrapers to get LEEDs

By Rain Noe - August 10, 2010

in Materials

The distinctive spire of the Chrysler Building, completed in 1930, is clad in a material called Enduro KA-2, a special German variant of non-rusting stainless steel. It was pretty cutting-edge for its day, and as the building has landmark status the material will likely never be replaced with anything different.

Which is not to say other, lesser-known skyscrapers will not see modern material upgrades. The Manhattan building known as 100 Park Avenue, one of the first steel and glass skyscrapers the city has known, is about to be re-shod with its own cutting-edge stuff: "Reynobond ACM with a Pewter, Kynar finish," by Alcoa Architectural Products.

The strong, rigid construction of Reynobond composite material consists of a compound core between two sheets of aluminum, brushed aluminum, zinc, stainless steel, copper or titanium. This creates a flat surface that virtually eliminates dimpling, buckling and oil canning.

Reynobond is easily routed, drilled, punched, cut, bent, curved and precisely formed via these and other fabrication techniques to achieve small-radius curves, reverse curves, angles and other shapes, to create dramatic and distinctive designs.

The light weight of Reynobond allows a wide variety of design options. Installation is quick and easy. For renovation work, cladding can often be installed with little or no alteration to existing structural elements.

Most importantly, Reynobond has a high recycled content, meaning it meets sustainable design standards; 100 Park Avenue will be New York City's first retrofitted building to receive LEED Silver certification.

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TomH

14 years ago

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Reynobond was not used on the Avenue or East/West facades, only the Street or North/South facades. My company did the fabrication and installation of the Reynobond panels (not the glass on Park Ave). Further, our fabrication facility in CT is powered entirely by solar panels. www.ida-intl.com
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Zane

14 years ago

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Adam, the Reynobond is not seen in the pictures as the panels are located on other elevations.

If anyone is interested in the Reynobond, you can price it and/or purchase it at www.rapidreynobond.com.
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Adam

14 years ago

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The building shown has a glass facade, but this material is aluminum paneling... what?
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Tim

14 years ago

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Interesting. I worked in the building on Madison Ave that's directly behind 100 Park Ave while they were doing this recladding. The Park Ave side and the lower sections that stretch towards Madison are clad in this material. Higher sections, particularly those facing away from Park Ave, were painted a pewter gray or not touched at all.
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Joel

14 years ago

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I can't waits to visit New Yorks and get to see the spire on the Chryslers Buildings
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Remi Michalowski

14 years ago

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This material sounds great, especially the non oil canning properties, which is a real problem in architectural applications. Although the polyethylene bonded core does not sound like it's a easily recyclable material.
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