Reprinted with permission from Stone World Marking history with Indiana limestone & StoneLite Panels ® Select Buff Indiana limestone was combined with bands of gray granite to create a distinctive look for the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, which held its grand opening on the Fourth of July 2003 by Jennifer Adams The National Constitution Center, the first museum devoted to honoring and explaining the U.S. Constitution, opened on July 4, 2003 in Philadelphia, PA. The exterior of the building features a facade of Select Buff Indiana limestone broken up by 8-inch bands of Chelmsford granite. The limestone was supplied by Indiana Limestone Co. of Bedford, IN, and the granite by Fletcher Granite Co. of N. Chelmsford, MA. StoneLite® panels were produced by Stone Panels, Inc. ften referred to as the “City of Brotherly Love,” Philadelphia has stamped its mark in history many times over. William Penn, who had received the title to Pennsylvania in a land grant from King Charles II of England, first established a site for Philadelphia in October 1682, and the community was incorporated as a city in 1701. Since that time, it has hosted many significant assemblies where historic documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution have been drafted and signed; served as residence to prominent citizens and statesmen such as Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross; and is home to the Liberty Bell and first American flag. So it is only fitting that a city that has received such accreditation is now host to another great landmark, the National Constitution Center, which opened

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners’ design team investigated a number of Stone Panels’ installations before specifying 9,000 square feet of StoneLite® panels for exterior walls over the atrium.

Photo courtesy of the National Constitution Center (Scott Frances, Ltd.) Inside the National Constitution Center, the interior wall panels were fabricated from slabs of Select Buff limestone and Chelmsford granite. Turner Construction offered savings by using lightweight StoneLite® panels from Stone Panels, Inc. of Coppell, TX. Approximately 20,000 square feet of StoneLite® limestone and granite was installed on interior walls and 9,000 square feet on the exterior.

To create the lightweight wall panels, solid rough sawn slabs of natural stone are sandwiched between two 3/4-inch-thick pieces of aircraft quality aluminum honeycomb by adhesion, using a proprietary high-strength, fiber-reinforced epoxy. After curing, the slabs are cut through their center thickness by a diamond tip saw, resulting in 3/4-inch stone thickness. Complementing the stonework is a two-story glass entrance, which is called the “front porch” by Henry N. Cobb, who told The New York Times, “It couldn’t be too official. It’s not a government building. Nor could it be extremely monumental,...