Vitro Certified® Newsletter

BancFirst Tower  

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK  

A curtainwall upgrade allows for stunning views of the Oklahoma City skyline and BancFirst Tower plaza. (Photography by Tom Kessler) 

Project Background 

The financial establishment known as BancFirst has roots that date back more than a century. Today, BancFirst has 100 locations in 60 Oklahoma communities, making it the largest state-chartered bank in Oklahoma. When it came time to establish a new corporate headquarters, the organization decided to reinvest in downtown Oklahoma City, right across the street from where it called home for many years.  

BancFirst purchased the former Liberty Tower, a 36-story historic skyscraper at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Main Street in Oklahoma City. BancFirst finally had a new home but recognized the 50-year-old iconic structure desperately needed a makeover and sought guidance from Bockus Payne.  

“The building was in bad shape. Little had been done to it for 15 years,” said Mathew Siebert, Bockus Payne Partner and Managing Principal. “There was quarter-inch single-pane annealed glass, a patchwork of colored bronze glass going up the building. Things just looked mismatched. We discussed various options, and it became clear that replacing all the glazing on the building was well worth the investment, and BancFirst was all in.” 

The Bockus Payne team spent months looking for the ideal match, drafting countless visual representations to find the perfect balance, and making trips to Dallas to consult the Vitro Architectural Glass experts. Bockus Payne found the optimal solution for this historic transformation in Solarban^® R67 (formerly Solarban^® 67) Optiblue^® glass.  

Solarban^® R67 Optiblue^® glass by Vitro Architectural Glass accentuates the historic transformation of the BancFirst Tower in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  (Photography by Tom Kessler)

Thanks to a proprietary double-silver magnetron sputtered vacuum deposition (MSVD) coating, Solarban^® R67 glass by Vitro Architectural Glass delivers exceptional levels of solar control performance while providing high transparency. In addition to its crisp clarity, Solarban^® R67 glass provides extraordinary performance attributes to help architects meet the increasingly stringent energy and environmental performance mandates required by contemporary building codes.  

“Transparency, energy efficiency, thermal comfort, we were looking for all of it,” said Collin Fleck, Bockus Payne Partner and Director of Design. 

Bockus Payne also specified Optiblue^® glass, a lightbodied, neutral color tint that optimizes the performance and aesthetics of Solarban^® glass coatings. Combining Optiblue^® glass with Solarban^® R67 glass in a standard one-inch insulating glass unit (IGU) results in a 0.25 solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) and a visible light transmittance (VLT) of 39%.  

“We were also looking for a statement piece, which you can see in the blue color of the building,” said Siebert.  

BancFirst began this multi-million-dollar renovation to the 500-foot tower, which is the second-tallest building in the city, in 2020. The transformation included replacing exterior glass, adding lighted signage and an extended crown, and reworking the plaza, lobby, and landscaping areas. The lower-level space that connects to the city’s underground tunnel system was also completely remodeled and includes the addition of geometric glass lanterns. 

“Everything that was once there was heavy-looking, and our goal was to enhance the transparency, create a connection from the inside to the outside, make it feel lighter across the board,” said Fleck. “We broke it down and gave it a streamlined and modern look. Those little subtle effects are spread across the whole building. It doesn’t look like it did before. It’s almost like a completely new building that everyone gets to experience.”  

In addition to the aesthetic upgrades, Bockus Payne highlighted internal improvements thanks to Solarban^® R67 Optiblue^® glass. The switch from monolithic glass to insulated double-pane glass with low-e coatings enabled a significant energy reduction for future operation costs.  

“The thermal comfort upgrade helped increase occupancy from 50% to almost full,” said Fleck. “Tenants wanted to leave because their spaces were so uncomfortable. It couldn’t keep warm in the winter or cool in the summer. Now, they’re finally able to maintain that comfort level.”  

What was once a hefty concrete structure is now an innovative, engaging, community-oriented space that welcomes BancFirst employees, building tenants, and the people of Oklahoma City.  

“It’s the gem of downtown. It’s a great spot to be,” said Siebert.

To learn more about Solarban^® R67 Optiblue^® Glass, visit vitroglazings.com or call 1-855-VTRO-GLS (887-6457). 

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