Having recently returned from Coverings 2016 in Chicago I felt I needed to write this article. While many people attending the show had some familiarity with porcelain pavers or other decking solutions and still more people could easily envision walkable water features, raised terraces, and green roofs, most people I spoke with were unaware of a core component that makes all of those applications possible – screwjack pedestals. If you don’t know about screwjack pedestals you are not alone.
Other building materials have been around for centuries, natural stone as a building material has been used for millennia. We see stone used in pyramids, the Roman Colosseum, in great architectural works, and landmarks of all shapes and sizes around the world. But screwjack pedestals are relatively recent phenomena, being invented by Claude Buzon in 1987. It isn’t surprising that many North American-based designers, architects, specifiers, landscape architects, and construction professionals don’t know about Buzon Screwjack Pedestals. After all, the Buzon company is located in Belgium.
While the U.S. may lead in some innovative areas, investments into civic and commercial projects haven’t been one of them. We have not kept pace with other parts of the world. As such, demand from innovative designers and architects has pulled Buzon into places around the world where investments in infrastructure have demanded innovative solutions. From the tallest rooftop terraces to large public promenades and innovative walkable water features, Buzon is the gold standard around the world.
Buzon pedestals have been installed in 1000’s of applications in 40 countries. Buzon pedestals were used in the tallest man-made structure in the world – the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and closer to home Buzon pedestals were installed in the New World Trade Center building. Architects and construction professionals use Buzon pedestals to create unique spaces that inspire, entertain and build community. These unique spaces range from roof decks and balconies to terraces, plazas, water features, green roofs and gardens, pedestrian pathways and walkways to illuminated floors and industrial decking, along with a host of other niche applications.
Buzon pedestals are a largely untold story. The fact that they exist is only one part of the story. Another part of the story is the fact that you can create level walking surfaces over pedestals placed onto any substrate. Buzon pedestals accommodate a wide variety of surface materials.
- Hardwood pavers: ipe, massaranduba, mahogany, and cumaru pavers [24×24, 24×48, and 36×36″ (FSC® and Non-FSC)], Thermory® deck tiles, black locust
- Natural stone pavers: granite, basalt, limestone, marble, slate. [Cut and finished to size and finish you design]
- Structural porcelain pavers: 24×24″ and plank pavers in stone-finish (Pietra) or wood-finish (Legno)
- Structural concrete pavers
- Structural glass pavers
- Hardwood board-decking: ipe, massaranduba, mahogany, bamboo, Thermory® thermally modified ash, Kebony
- black locust
- Resysta Rice Hull Composite decking designed to replace ipe: class A fire-rating, 100% water-proof and insect-resistant. May be stained any color.
- Fiber molded grating
There is much more to the Buzon pedestal story, including the world’s fastest and most accurate slope corrector system available, the ability for the BC Series pedestal to accommodate architectural stone cut into any pattern, green and LEED certification, fire resistance, transparent pedestals, etc., but I’ll leave those subjects for future articles. If and when you do design or specify screwjack pedestals into a project know that we have plenty of design resources and services that can make your job a little easier. Contact us when you are ready.
