Story

Stephenson was retained by Brantford General Hospital to evaluate the condition of the cladding system of one of their buildings. The building was constructed in 1963. The exterior cladding consists of a combination of brick masonry supported by reinforced concrete back-up walls, brick masonry on concrete block, and decorative tile spandrel panels laminatedd to concrete block below the punched windows.

Evaluation of the cladding was required due to:

1. Cracking and horizontal displacement of the exterior masonry.

2. Delamination of the decorative tile spandrel panels below windows which created a falling hazard.

In addition, we were asked to evaluate the condition of the existing single glazed windows.

Ultimately our recommendations were to overclad the tile clad spandrel panels, and replace displaced masonry and install strategically placed expansion joints in the masonry. Oour recommendatinos also included replacement of the windows to icnrease thermal comfort of the building occupants and to reduce heating loads. The project was completed in 2012.