By: Deborah Johnson Wood
At 34 floors, River House Condominiums, the state’s tallest residential structure, will be more than just a shimmering blue icon of Grand Rapids’ renaissance; it will be a reflection of the revitalization of downtown—literally. Crews have begun skinning the building in the same trademark electric blue reflective glass panels as the structure’s near-twin, Bridgewater Place.
Each panel weighs in at about 350 pounds and each are five-foot wide with varying heights: 14-feet tall for floors three through seven, 10-feet tall for floors eight through 26, and 12-feet tall for floors 27 through 32—the highest above-ground level. The height of each story of the building corresponds with the height of the glass panels.
Although the building’s façade forms an arc, the panels are all flat with a one-inch-thick pane, an inch of air space, and another one-inch-thick pane. ASI Limited in Indianapolis fabricates the panels from glass manufactured by Viracon in Dallas. ASI installs the panels using a crew of three ASI contractors and some 20 local workers.
“The frame and panel comes as a unit and the units stack into each other like a giant Lego's set,” says Matt Larsen, Wolverine Construction project manager. “The 14-foot panels will be lifted by the Pecco tower crane. The other units will be set from the floor above using a cantilevered crane that will swing the panels out for the crews to guide into place.”
The work is dangerous and requires skilled crane operators. Larsen says the entire work site follows a strict 100 percent “tie off” rule—anyone working over six feet off the ground is required to wear a harness and lanyard.
Source: Matt Larsen, Wolverine Construction Management
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Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
Photograph by Brian Kelly
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