BancFirst Tower

[Pete]

[Pete]

Lots of progress with glass installation on the north side of the lobby:

[Pete]

They have already fully repaired the scaffolding on the south side of the building.

Almost all the glass is in on the north side of the lobby.

[ksearls]

They have already fully repaired the scaffolding on the south side of the building.

Almost all the glass is in on the north side of the lobby.

I was down in the lobby when the scaffolding was crashing down on Friday, it was wild! We went downstairs because the tower was swaying and creaking so much is was freaking us out! Everyone agreed it was the most they had ever felt the building move in 10 years. Crazy storm!

[NINfan1231]

The CEO of Bancfirst just said that they are scrapping the plan to do the lower 14 floors first all around, and will just go all the way up on each side.

[Pete]

The CEO of Bancfirst just said that they are scrapping the plan to do the lower 14 floors first all around, and will just go all the way up on each side.

I thought something was up when they never started on the south side, then I saw the crew working on some of the upper floors of the north side this week.

Visually, it will be way more gratifying to see one side completely done.

I wonder if this will delay BancFirst's move.

[HFAA Alum]

Chief took one good look at it and said "Hey, that looks really nice... To hell with it, just take it all the way up."

[Pete]

Metal wraps for the pillars and lobby fascia have started to be installed.

I'm not sure what they are doing on the east side of the building. I know these structures aren't permanent... Perhaps they will serve as protect scaffoldng?

Also, you can see they are getting ready to install the blue mullions on the remainder of the north facade.

[PaddyShack]

Will the glass on the lobby be keeping the blue trim? Or it that just painter's tape to protect the glass during installation?

[Pete]

Will the glass on the lobby be keeping the blue trim? Or it that just painter's tape to protect the glass during installation?

It's just painter's tape.

I believe it's due to calking between the glass panels.

[DowntownMan]

Ok! They have added these huge metal overhangs above the lobby that do not appear on the renderings.

So far these metal overhangs are on the East and west sides.

[Pete]

Ok! They have added these huge metal overhangs above the lobby that do not appear on the renderings.

So far these metal overhangs are on the East and west sides.

You can see them on the eastside in my photos above that I took yesterday.

My guess is they will serve as a temporary scaffolding platform. As we've seen on the north facade, they have to stage a lot in terms of mullions and windows directly below where they are working. They also place the lowered work platforms rest on the bottom as well.

[Sooner.Arch]

I edited this really quick on an app for fun haha, looks nice lol

[Pete]

^

My OCD wants to see one completed side before more on to another!

[DowntownMan]

You can see them on the eastside in my photos above that I took yesterday.

My guess is they will serve as a temporary scaffolding platform. As we've seen on the north facade, they have to stage a lot in terms of mullions and windows directly below where they are working. They also place the lowered work platforms rest on the bottom as well.

That would make sense. They really don’t have as much room especially on the west side for scaffolding because of the big window holes to basement level. They wouldn’t have room to get machinery around if they put up full scaffolding on that side.

[Pete]

It may be the setup they have on the southside of the building just didn't work for their purposes, especially since it was substantially damaged during a recent thunderstorm. They were set to start on that side but then changed their plans.

I obviously go down there quite a bit to take photos and monitor progress and that specific area is the worse wind tunnel in all of OKC. There have been times I have almost been blown off my feet. There is no way to use that flimsy system because the wind gets underneath the light-weight platform and blows it to hell.

You can't have scaffolding blowing around with people working up there and expensive materials being staged. It's a good thing that last storm and the flying scaffolding structure didn't cause damage or hurt someone.

[jn1780]

That scaffolding gets in the way and they would have to take it down and back up again as they rotate around the building doing the glass. I'm glad they have upgraded to these platform overhangs .

[David]

I really appreciate that we're apparently going to get a fully completed side before they start on another.

[DowntownMan]

I walk thru this area daily and can see the progress daily. Yes it’s a wind tunnel.

I do think scaffolding is only option and will remain on south side. They aren’t about to hook around the pillars on this side of building like they are doing on the east and west with these new platforms.

But now it maybe will allow them to work on rest of building without taking and moving scaffolding again

[DowntownMan]

They also have started building the pyramid shape enclosures over the basement sun lights.
Really starting to take shape and see how much better this building is going to be

Can’t wait tor this time next year. For many reasons because I just want 2020 to be over but to see this building further along will be great

[DowntownMan]

The scaffolding is gone. Guess they decided to not use that at all. Probably like it was mentioned that it ended up not being a safe long term solution

[Pete]

Yes, I took these yesterday as they were taking it down (2nd photo).

In the first and third photo, you can see they have installed the canopy over the main entrance on the north side.

[Lazio85]

Taken this morning.

[HOT ROD]

I have to say the highrise does look more and more like the JR Ewing Building in Dallas, TX.

[Pete]

The change will be even bigger at street level.

Redoing that aging, cracked concrete plaza and opening up the lobby with make a huge difference. It's already pretty striking in person.