Cast Iron Vault Panels for Landmark Streetscape Restoration of Hudson and Duane Streets in New York City
For this project OK Foundry provided cast iron vault panels to renovate and expand the lighted vault panel streetscape at the corner of Hudson and Duane Streets in New York City. All of the cast iron panels, staircase risers, and treads have a pattern of circles and protective nubs to hold glass prisms that allow natural light into the basement spaces of the building below.
This project required nearly 7,000 individual glass prisms be grouted into the cast iron panels before installation to the structural steel work. To cast panels with this many holes, OK Foundry needed to make foundry patterns with 1,500 holes in the correct pattern with 6,000 locating holes for the nubs. To get this much pattern work completed on time, OK Foundry recruited the help of Commercial Machine International in Richmond, Virginia to machine the hole patterns into plastic using a CNC machine. By automating the repetitious portion of the pattern making, OK Foundry drasticaly reduced the leadtime for getting all the foundry patterns made.
All of the foundry pattern and casting work for this project was completed in 12 weeks, from signing of an agreement to final delivery. The project included 19 foundry patterns, 182 individual pieces of cast iron for a total cast weight of 16,000 lbs.
Architectural Details and Patterns for Lighted Cast Iron Panels
From architectural drawings, a CNC program was made and a large portion of the pattern work was accomplished by CNC machining plastic sheet material. The bullnose feature of the stair treads was made in wood using traditional fine carpentry and foundry pattern making techniques.
Hole pattern for cast iron vault panel with prisms.
Architectural drawing of cast iron stair tread.
Foundry pattern for cast iron stair tread nosing.
Plastic sheet with CNC machined hole pattern.
CNC sheet installed in foundry pattern with nubs.
Foundry pattern for no-bake molding of cast iron panel.
No Bake Molds and Hot Pouring Cast Iron Panels
To cast the large lighted cast iron panels, no bake molds were used and the pouring temperature was kept hot (2700 deg F) to make sure all the hole details were expressed in the cast iron.
No-bake mold half for cast iron panel.
Pouring iron into no-bake molds for vault panels.
Finished cast iron subway vault panel casting.
The Finished Installation of Lighted Cast Iron Panels
Cast iron stair treads and risers.
Cast iron risers with glass prisms.
Glass prisms in cat iron stair treads.
Close up of cast iron treads and risers.
Lighted cast iron vault panels over basement.
Close up of glass prisms grouted into cast iron panel.