The Ritz Carlton Residences
Inner Harbor-Baltimore, MD
Referred to as the “Jewel of the Inner Harbor” this 1st of its kind 189 unit “luxury living”, condo complex juts out into the harbor of one of Americas oldest seaports, offering spectacular views of Baltimore’s world famous Inner Harbor & Waterfront skyline.
The Task
Rising costs & construction complications soon made the specified GFRC components, which included over a mile of cornice and hidden gutter, located at the 6th floor of all 7 buildings, overpriced and out of the budget; the Architect & Owners started looking for alternative methods that would accomplish the effect.
The first decision was to go to metal panels as a competitive alternative, It soon became evident that costs, and installation would be similar to the GFRC originally specified, also the metal panels were not inclusive of the decretive detailing that was desired.
M&O approached the owners with a plan to Develop, Design, and Engineer then fabricate and install a panelized EIFS replication of the desired GFRC elements.
This design would ultimately involve utilizing a panelized EIFS, simultaneously with field applied EIFS, while in harmony with the contractor doing the metal roofing and flashing that would have to be installed in conjunction with the EIFS installation.
As the design and development was initiated then began to take shape, the Architect, moisture consultants, and General Contractor, stepped back and let M&O using their 20 plus years of experience and close working relationship with the EIFS manufacturer have greater control of the various details of the design, what would work and what would not work, specifically the water management from the roof into and unto the new EIFS design.
This plan not only accomplishing the architectural intentions of the GFRC, was well with in the budget, but also is a benchmark in EIFS detailing that again showcases the unlimited possibilities available with the EIFS systems.
