Getting Back on Track with Style

Find a more efficient and cost-effective structural façade system to complete a planned mixed-use development that ran into economic issues.

Town officials in Cliffside Park, N.J., had big plans for revitalizing their downtown when they began assembling properties for a new, signature mixed-use development back in 2002.

SlenderWall assemblies, which combine an exterior architectural precast concrete panel with vapor barrier, closed-cell foam insulation and galvanized framing studs, provided significant labor savings. The panels’ unique M-shape also allowed for larger windows, giving future tenants even greater access to dramatic views of the Manhattan skyline.

As is typically the case, the staggered truss system was paired with precast concrete plank flooring. The floor planks were fabricated with embed plates for connecting the SlenderWall exterior panels. This installation process was choreographed to such a degree that, according to Virgona, “the panel façade was being applied to the building even as the structure above was still being constructed.”