trace — bureau de change
Photo · Gilbert McCarragher Back to top
A detailed facade study by Bureau de Change Architects using precast concrete panels to mimic and abstract traditional load-bearing brick and stone masonry techniques.
- What we like about this project
- Traditional masonry quoin patterns are cast integrally into large flat precast panels rather than laid up in individual bricks.
Materials
- precast-concrete
- glass
- metal
Visual identifiers
- precast-concrete-panels
- rusticated-quoining
- voussoirs
- arched-windows
Style tags
- contemporary
- textural
- contextual
Visual tags
- facade-detail
- precast-concrete
- texture
- contemporary-masonry
- relief
- Geometry
- Grid of large precast panels featuring alternating rusticated vertical quoin bands and radiating voussoirs around arched window openings.
- Facade system
- Precast concrete panelized rainscreen system with integrated window assemblies.
- Structural guess
- Steel or concrete superstructure supporting a precast curtain wall or rainscreen cladding system.
- Spatial scale
- Multi-story facade detail where each panel module spans roughly one floor height.
- Lighting
- Direct sunlight raking across the facade, casting crisp shadows from the rusticated relief blocks.
- Atmosphere
- Tactile, rhythmic, and playful interplay of light and precast shadow.
- Environmental context
- Urban architectural context; close-up elevation framing sky reflections in window glazing.
- Spatial experience
- Flat surface reads as a deeply textured, tactile skin, reinterpreting traditional masonry detailing through modern panelization.
- Composition rhythm
- Regular grid punctuated by alternating rusticated vertical strips and radiating arched frames.
- Style reading
- Contemporary reinterpretative masonry facade
- Program
- Commercial or mixed-use urban building
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- precast-concrete, glass, metal
- Visual identifiers
- precast-concrete-panels, rusticated-quoining, voussoirs, arched-windows
- Style tags
- contemporary, textural, contextual
- Visual tags
- facade-detail, precast-concrete, texture, contemporary-masonry, relief
- Geometry
- Grid of large precast panels featuring alternating rusticated vertical quoin bands and radiating voussoirs around arched window openings.
- Facade system
- Precast concrete panelized rainscreen system with integrated window assemblies.
- Structural guess
- Steel or concrete superstructure supporting a precast curtain wall or rainscreen cladding system.
- Spatial scale
- Multi-story facade detail where each panel module spans roughly one floor height.
- Lighting
- Direct sunlight raking across the facade, casting crisp shadows from the rusticated relief blocks.
- Atmosphere
- Tactile, rhythmic, and playful interplay of light and precast shadow.
- Environmental context
- Urban architectural context; close-up elevation framing sky reflections in window glazing.
- Spatial experience
- Flat surface reads as a deeply textured, tactile skin, reinterpreting traditional masonry detailing through modern panelization.
- Composition rhythm
- Regular grid punctuated by alternating rusticated vertical strips and radiating arched frames.
- Style reading
- Contemporary reinterpretative masonry facade
- Program
- Commercial or mixed-use urban building
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture