13 minute read
Specifiers’ Solutions
from Architectural Products - September/October 2022
by Buildings & Construction Group
LIVING SPACE WITH VIEWS Every apartment becomes a corner unit with ample views to the outdoors. The expertly-crafted interiors are defined by thoughtful design that plays against the building’s cutting-edge façade.
© Jason O’Rear Courtesy Studio Gang
© Garrett Rowland Courtesy Studio Gang “We took a site that had been originally zoned for a 300-ft.-tall building with a requirement imposed by the city of 25% below market value housing and through a combination of design and advocacy, we were able to increase the amount of below market rate housing for a city in great need of housing to 40%. The method of doing that was to also get an increase in height from 300 ft. to 400 ft.”
—Steve Wiesenthal, Principal, Studio Gang, San Francisco
© Garrett Rowland Courtesy Studio Gang
KITCHEN FAUCET
The Litze SmartTouch Pull-Down Kitchen Faucet with arc spout and knurled handle brings clean, contemporary sensibility with an artisanal touch to any kitchen space. The faucet is both purposeful and functional, with a two-function spray wand featuring both spray and stream settings, and the intricate knurling is a detailed, textured design element.
Brizo www.brizo.com
Welcome Home
Stone veneers add rugged beauty that weathers well in Pacific Northwest.
When designing a custom home for a young, active family of five in the Portland, Ore. area, the builders at Cascade West Development sought out a stone element that would provide the high-end finishing touch in several feature spaces, while withstanding the extreme weather that can arise in the Pacific Northwest.
The home features upper and lower indoor/outdoor seating areas, including a poolside covered patio adjacent to a basement like no other, essentially an entire floor dedicated to fun. It includes a huge entertainment room with panoramic doors, exercise room and sauna, guest suites and an arcade room with pinball machines and vintage arcade cabinets that hold more than 4,000 games each.
The massive, five-car garage includes a half-court regulation-size basketball court, as well as a regulation, indoor retractable batting cage and a multisport net for indoor tennis, badminton, and volleyball. Basically, this incredible home was designed to maximize playtime all year round.
CHALLENGE
Aesthetically, the homeowners wanted to achieve a nature-inspired, modern look that included complementary natural textures and colorways to accent the home’s architectural features and interactive spaces.
Private Residence Portland, Ore.
Design Team: Alan Mascord Design Associates
PRODUCT SPECS:
Exterior: Ledgecut33 in White Cap Interior: TundraBrick in Chalk Dusty
Eldorado Stone www.eldoradostone.com
CIRCLE 215
PROJECT SPECS
SOLUTION
Architectural stone veneers offered the builders a solution that would beautifully finish interior and exterior surfaces, and stand up to the range of weather conditions that occur in the region.
For the Aurora House, the team selected LedgeCut33 in the White Cap colorway for the home’s exterior. The profile’s semi-modern, uniform look appealed to the homeowners and helped them to realize their white farmhouse aesthetic with an additional nod to texture. Most importantly for them, the stone accomplished all of this without overpowering the other design elements on the exterior.
They also incorporated TundraBrick in Chalk Dust as a focal point in the foyer, barbecue, and wet bar areas. Using dark gray grout, the alluringly bright brick veneer draws attention to those spaces and serves to tie-in various exterior elements.
Building in the PNW means selecting products that will be able to withstand extreme shifts in weather patterns and temperature for many years, and Eldorado Stone has been proven to last through driving hail, freezing rain, heavy snow, strong winds and summer heat waves. According to Darla Wuori, interior/exterior designer at Cascade West, there has not been a single weather-related challenge to cause the product to warp, rot, or rust, which underscores the brand’s 50-year warranty on its materials.
© Cascade West Development
Moment of Reflection
Arcana’s mirrored cabins blend seamlessly with the surrounding forest.
Cabin-based hospitality received an innovative addition to its growing numbers with Arcana, a cluster of cabins designed by Vancouver-based Leckie Studio Architecture + Design. Hidden away in a pristine wooded section of Ontario, Canada, the cabins disappear into the landscape in large part due to their polished, reflective façade.
Architect Michael Leckie, an outdoor enthusiast with previous experience in prefabrication and offgrid construction, joined the founders of Arcana in late 2019. The concept was to create small structures that could be installed in wooded environments within a few hours drive from urban areas. “Our core idea for the design was to offer experiences that would bring people closer to nature,” said Leckie,
“to bridge the gap between urban and natural environments. The polished, stainless-steel exterior reflects its surroundings, allowing the structure to fit in seamlessly with the canopy of trees and natural plantings all around it.”
In order to accomplish this impressive camouflaging feat, the cladding system for the 274-sq.-ft. structure is comprised of ten full-size stainless-steel panels, each weighing roughly 200 pounds, and ten partial panels that were custom cut and tightly fitted together. The mirrored stainless-steel panels were fastened to a shipping container, which serves as the structural shell for the cabin, using treated wood panel frames and a custom French cleat system manufactured by Powers Construction.
While the cabins’ façade may seem to disappear into the forest to the human eye, steps were taken to protect birds and other wildlife from becoming injured from an unexpected run-in with the structure. The design team worked with Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) Canada, an organization widely recognized as the pre-eminent authority on the birdbuilding collision issue, which recommended that a protective film be applied to the façade. This film possesses slight distortive properties that are unnoticeable to the human eye but allow birds to identify the reflective cabins as objects in the landscape, so that they can avoid contact with them.
—Michael Leckie, Leckie Studio Architecture + Design
© Andrew Latraille
—Paul Groleau, Vice President, Feather Friendly Technologies
BIRD-FRIENDLY
COLLISION DETERRING Although consultants from Canada FLAP and Feather Friendly recommended that the film be applied to the reflective stainless-steel surface and the glazing, the decision was made to only treat the mirrored cladding. Arcana Cabins Ontario, Canada
Design Team: Leckie Studio, Vancouver, BC., Canada
PRODUCT SPECS:
Feather Friendly Commercial Solution, Standard and Custom Patterns available
Feather Friendly www.featherfriendly.com
CIRCLE 214
Hidden Acoustics
Ceiling clouds provide modern visual and effective sound management.
CHALLENGE
RegenXBIO is a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Rockville, Md. that seeks to improve lives through the curative potential of gene therapy. As a result of continuing growth, it recently relocated to a new headquarters building that allowed it to expand its labs and consolidate its office space. According to interior designer Lindsay Casey of Ewing Cole in Philadelphia, Pa., company management was looking to create a state-of-the-art facility that showcased their science while allowing for continuous operation of offices and labs.
Several glass walls were installed to connect the labs to the offices visually. Management was also looking to create a dynamic interior surface in the facility’s main lobby and centrally located lounge areas. Excellent acoustical performance and a clean, modern, monolithic visual were also part of the design requirements.
SOLUTION
To create the desired dynamic surface, Casey and the design team chose to install a series of ceiling clouds comprised of AcoustiBuilt Seamless Acoustical Ceilings, an Armstrong ceiling system that provides the look of drywall but performs like an acoustical ceiling.
Casey notes acoustics were especially important in the lobby and lounges because of all the glass walls and other hard surfaces. “The clouds are the only absorptive surface in those spaces,” she says. AcoustiBuilt ceilings achieve a Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) of up to 0.80, indicating they absorb up to 80% of the sound that strikes them.
SAVVY SOUND MANAGEMENT A total of 21 acoustical ceiling clouds in different sizes and shapes were installed in the lobby and lounge areas.
A total of 21 clouds were installed in a variety of sizes and shapes. The smallest was approximately 6 ft. × 16 ft. and the largest approximately 11 ft. × 27 ft. All the clouds are angled and overlap each other. The result is a visual rhythm that draws visitors into a space. “The clouds create a kind of wayfinding element that draws visitors into the lounge areas,” Casey says. “They impart a really strong visual and are not as static as a flat ceiling. The ceiling also provides the look of drywall we wanted but is acoustically sound.”
She also reports lighting was not a problem. Recessed linear lighting was installed in the clouds and cove lighting in the trim. “Installation was pretty straightforward and simple,” she states. “The clouds did not limit the type of lighting that could be installed or their location. They offered a great deal of flexibility.” In terms of installation Casey notes everything went smoothly. “There were no issues,” she says, “probably because it was so similar to a gypsum ceiling installation.” All the clouds were installed on Armstrong drywall grid systems. Armstrong Axiom Classic trim was used on the edges.
According to project manager Kiersten Kaplan of DPR Construction in Columbia, Md., this was the first time his crew installed a ceiling of this design. “When we first saw it, we knew this was going to be both fun and awesome as well as really difficult. All details had to come together,” he states. Numerous coordination meetings with MEP partners were held. “There were no access panels, so access to certain utilities was prohibited and much had to be redesigned in order not to change the aesthetics,” he adds.
SUBTLE WAYFINDING All the clouds are sloped and overlap each other approximately 2 ft. The result is a visual rhythm that draws visitors into a space.
The clouds create a wayfinding element that leads visitors into the lounge areas. They impart a strong visual and are not as static as a flat ceiling. RegenXBIO HQ Rockville, Md.
Design Team: Ewing Cole
PRODUCT SPECS:
AcoustiBuilt Seamless Acoustical Ceilings; Axiom Classic trim
Armstrong Ceilings www.armstrongceilings.com
CIRCLE 213
Brick, But Lighter
Panels are a homerun for a new office building adjoining Greensboro, N.C. ballpark.
CHALLENGE
Greensboro, N.C., is experiencing a bit of a renaissance these days. A centerpiece project among all the new construction is the nine-story, 400 Bellemeade office building, which offers at least some of its tenants skybox-quality views over the adjacent First National Bank Field, home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers, a minor-league baseball team affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
SOLUTION
The building’s unique façade pairs contemporary glass curtainwall with more traditional masonry cladding to create a new signature presence in the city’s skyline. While it might look like the brickwork is all hand-laid masonry units, it’s actually a thinface veneer inlaid into SlenderWall precast wallpanel assemblies. This approach allowed the general contractor to shave months off the construction schedule, while still giving the developer and design team the Class-A look they desired.
In the design, developed by the Winston-Salem firm of West & Stem Architects, the brick appears to peel away from the façade on city-facing elevations to reveal a contemporary glass-and-steel structure beneath, melding the adjacent ballpark’s old-school appearance with the more modern lines of the surrounding downtown commercial district.
“The context was a key consideration throughout the design process,” says James Stem, , a principal with the firm. “The idea of the traditional façade peeling away to reveal the modern materials at key locations and vantage points was the successful and final solution. As the building moves toward the central business district and away from the ballpark, its traditional façade peels away to a more contemporary aesthetic.”
Increased Height Means Material Changes
As the height target of the project shifted, the designers had to rethink their materials choices for the exterior. “At a six-story design concept, traditional masonry cavity construction supported by curtain wall framing was strongly considered,” Stem says. “The challenges and limitations of traditional masonry-veneer construction at mid-rise heights led, ultimately, to consideration of alternate envelope enclosure approaches.”
Landmark Builders’ director of operations, Channing Chrismon, says once the team came across SlenderWall as a possibility, all involved were intrigued. “It provided a means to get a skin on this building extremely quickly,” he says. “Once we got above the six-story mark, where the numbers were falling meant conventional construction wasn’t economical for us.” “The idea of the traditional façade peeling away to reveal the modern materials at key locations and vantage points was the successful and final solution.”
—James Stem, , Principal, West & Stem Architects
Unlike traditional precast panels, SlenderWall units are a complete wall assembly that combines an exterior panel with a vapor barrier, closed-cell foam insulation, and interior framing studs. They are also very lightweight, tipping the scales at only 30 lbs. per sq. ft., which is 66% lighter than traditional precast products. Plus, SlenderWall panels are shipped to the jobsite ready to install, to meet a job’s specific timing requirements. Thin-brick veneers, like that used for this project, are installed during manufacturing, and designers can choose from a broad range of brick colors and textures.
Ultimately, the building team did opt to hand lay brick for the building’s first two floors, which feature arched radiuses above the entry and second-floor windows—this ended up being more economical than trying to create that look on the shop floor. The thin-brick veneer is inset slightly from the plane of those first two stories to create a visual break and the same radius brick look was achieved on the top floor with SlenderWall panels.
400 Bellemeade Greensboro, N.C
Design Team: West & Stem Architects
PRODUCT SPECS:
SlenderWall
Easi-Set (SlenderWall) www.easiset.com
CIRCLE 212
ORIGINAL EXCEPTIONAL
Project: One Hundred Residential Tower Product: Blumcraft® PA100 Panic Devices & DRS Door Rail Systems Architect: Studio Gang Photo: Tom Harris At CRL, our purpose is to elevate architectural metal and glass to their highest forms of expression. To meld the latest technologies with a deeper sense of craft. For over 50 years, our Blumcraft® brand has been the unquestioned spec of visionary builders around the world.
800.458.7535 • crl-arch.com abd@crlaurence.com
