Arc on Armour – Curtain Wall Renovation & Façade Engineering in Kansas City

Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Project: Arc on Armour
Address: 211 W. Armour Boulevard
Project Type: Adaptive Reuse | Multifamily Residential
JEI Scope: Curtain Wall / Glazing Structural Engineering
Developer: Mac Properties / Silliman Group
Architect: Helix Architecture + Design
Project Value: Approximately $11.7 Million
Completed: 2020

From Brick-Filled Arches to a Glass Façade

Sometimes the best façade engineering doesn’t replace a building’s architectural identity—it helps reveal it.

Arc on Armour is an adaptive reuse project along Kansas City’s historic Armour Boulevard. The three-story mid-century building formerly served as offices for the American Red Cross before being transformed into a modern multifamily residential community.

One of the building’s most distinctive original architectural features was a series of large arches spanning all three stories of the façade. Over time, much of the area beneath those arches had been filled with brick.

The redevelopment preserved the arches while replacing the brick infill with expansive glazing.

The result is a dramatic façade transformation: the original architectural rhythm remains, but glass brings significantly more natural light into the building and gives the former office structure a new residential identity.

JEI Structural provided curtain wall and glazing structural engineering for the renovation.

Adaptive Reuse Creates Different Façade Engineering Challenges

Renovating an existing façade can present a very different engineering problem than designing glazing for new construction.

The glazing system must work within an existing structure and architectural geometry rather than starting with a blank slate.

Conditions can require consideration of:

• Existing structural framing and attachment conditions

• New glazing loads on an older structure

• Curtain wall anchorage and connections

• Wind pressures

• Mullion and framing requirements

• Glass performance

• Deflection and serviceability

• Existing opening dimensions and tolerances

• Interface between new glazing and existing construction

• Preservation of architecturally significant features

For Arc on Armour, the challenge was particularly visible. The new glazing had to integrate with the building’s defining three-story arches while supporting the architectural team’s goal of preserving the original mid-century character.

Glass Helped Transform the Building

The conversion demonstrates what façade renovation can accomplish in an adaptive reuse project.

Removing the brick beneath the arches and introducing large areas of glazing opened the façade to daylight while maintaining the architectural elements that made the original building recognizable.

The former office building was ultimately transformed into more than 60 residences with amenities including resident gathering and fitness spaces.

Rather than disguising the building’s history, the redevelopment used it as part of the new design.

Kansas City Façade Engineering Experience

Arc on Armour is also part of JEI Structural’s long history of providing specialized glass, glazing and façade engineering from our Kansas City headquarters.

Since 2003, JEI has worked with glazing contractors, architects, general contractors, manufacturers and project teams on commercial façade projects in Kansas City and throughout the United States.

Our experience includes both new construction and the renovation of existing building-envelope systems.

Curtain Wall | Window Wall | Storefront | Structural Glass | Glass Railings | Canopies & Skylights | Specialty Glazing | Façade Panels | Building Envelope Systems

Renovating an Existing Curtain Wall or Glazing System?

Existing buildings can create conditions that aren’t obvious from the architectural drawings alone.

JEI Structural can assist project teams with façade engineering, existing-condition evaluation, glazing system design, structural calculations, connections and constructability considerations for renovation and adaptive reuse projects.

For Kansas City projects, that also means access to a local façade engineering team with decades of specialized glass and glazing experience.

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