Historic District  –  Phoenix

The project was approved through the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation department with no modifications to the plan even though the home is a more modern expression.  The City cited the use of quality materials in the project as one reason for their approval.  The size of a half-high block lent itself to the historic context of the neighborhood and other brick homes in the area.  Neighbors were polled for their choice between stucco and brick for this project and the overwhelming consensus was that a brick look was preferred.  Omni Block’s half-high “Omni Brick” satisfied these needs.

The Omni Block system is part of an overall energy approach to the home to minimize life cycle operating costs.  The home will be a laboratory experiment for the architect, who is the homeowner as well and will couple with other technologies to minimize energy usage of a masonry home in a desert environment.

For durability, sound control, energy performance and aesthetic expression Omni Block met all the requirements.

The foundation or stem walls completed with Omni Block’s 4″ high block will match the above grade house exterior block seamlessly. The slab (not poured as of yet) is now insulated via Omni Block’s insulation inserts in the exterior cells. The interior cells, in stem wall situations are left void and grouted solid. Omni Block’s corner units have the same grout cell as standard CMU.

Each vertical rebar must have 40 bar diameters (40 x 5/8″ = 25″) overlap at each splice. These photos show that the vertical rebar will extend beyond the top of the stem by 25″ minimum.

The house consists of a combination of standard 8″ high Omni Block that will be stuccoed on the exterior and skim-coated on the interior and 4″ high Omni Brick that will be lightly sandblasted on both the exterior and interior. Some areas may be ground to expose the aggregate mix on site.