Visual Mockup of the Dime Building Features White Glazed Terra Cotta Extrusions
In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, progress on the Dime Building has made significant headway with a newly constructed tower rising well above the surrounding architecture. Once construction is completed later this year, the Dime Building will reach a total height of 23 stories with 350,000 square feet of space. The Dime will contain 177 apartment units, offices and retail spaces at street level with various amenities, including underground parking and a rooftop garden.
Boston Valley Terra Cotta has been working with building owner, Charney Construction Company, and architects at Fogarty Finger to manufacture the Dime Building’s white glazed TerraClad® façade. The cladding is made of many extruded terra cotta panels that will be installed on the newly constructed, curvilinear tower. The design of the building has a strong focus on harmony in order to blend elements of old and new. The landmarked 1908 Dime Savings Bank is thoughtfully incorporated into the overall design of the contemporary mixed-use building.
Each TerraClad® panel has been fabricated using the extrusion forming method — clay is pushed into the extruding chamber and through a steel die. This method creates a continuous terra cotta panel that is then cut to the designated length. Extrusion is most efficient for manufacturing simple profiles in large quantities with a hollow interior cross section.
Two monochromatic glazes are used in the design of The Dime, a white and a gray. The white glaze, shown in the mockup below, was chosen to complement the stonework and limestone aesthetic of the Neo-Classical Dime Savings Bank and gray glazed panels will be installed on the supporting piers. The benefit of using terra cotta lies in its visual flexibility: the Boston Valley glaze lab has a library of existing glazes and has the capacity to match different materials with a custom developed glaze.
The visual mockups at Boston Valley are a part of our QA/QC processes for client review. The mockups ensure proper alignment and fit of the terra cotta panels on the standard Boston Valley track and clip system. Terra cotta panels started shipping out to the job site early in February.
Check back soon to see the progress updates on the Dime Building.
