Restoration

A concrete high-rise hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, circa 1965, was the first open air atrium hotel ever built. It was constructed under the watchful eye of John Portman, who went on to become one of America's most successful Architects. The hotel boats 1,260 guest rooms and just over 180,000 square feet of ballroom and exhibit space. Using the construction technology and trends of the time, the exterior surfaces of the hotel were constructed of exposed river rock aggregate consolidated concrete walls. This was a popular building material, but one that often left gaps of uneven areas where the river rocks weren't evenly distributed. After years of pollution from busy city streets and mass transportation, the hotel's bare spots began to contrast unevenly and unattractively with the concrete itself. Hotel owners sought a solution for repairing the affected areas, without painting over the existing river rock, or having to replace the walls entirely.

To maintain the character of the original building, Nawkaw Southeast, of Watkinsville, Georgia, was called in for consultation on the project. Years of city traffic and congestion had left a large amount of pollution built up on the exterior river rock and concrete walls. Nawkaw Southeast presented a solution that included a stain wash to imitate the river rock using Nawkaw's proprietary NWRT-91 product and Nawkaw trained crews and applicators. With this solution, the river rock not only became more colorful when the concrete was cleaned and stained to a refreshing blush color, but areas that were void of the rock altogether, now appeared full and evenly abundant with river rock.

URL: http://www.nawkaw.com/restoration.html