7 minute read
Flexible Framing Beats The Curve
from commARCH - May 2013
by IdeaSoil
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The lobby of the Plateau Valley Medical Clinic has a curved wall of windows with a view to the desert outside.
A framing product reduces labor costs while providing architects with an additional design option.
The striking Plateau Valley Medical Clinic, Collproblem with that plan, though, was the wood bran, CO, has scored rave reviews in its Mesa framing selected for the one-story structure. County community of fewer than 1,000 people. “The decision was driven by cost,” said With fi ve examination rooms, an emergency room, architect Frank Wagner, partner at Wagner/ and 28 beds, the new facility provides around-theGalloway, Palisade, CO. “The economy was clock care.
Care isn’t the only The exterior of the clinic, including the thing fl owing in the clindriveway and landscaping, provides ic, however. The building clues to the curved design inside. features a radius-intensive design that is functional as well as aesthetically pleasing for patients and staff. Curves can create a calming effect, so designers often incorporate them in plans for healthcare facilities.
A potential
there with wood.” Unfortunately wood does not curve easily.
Ahead of the Qurve
The solution was Flex-Ability Concepts’, Oklahoma City, Quick Qurve Plate, a hand-curvable, plywoodframing product with the same dimensions as 2x4s and 2x6s. Framers used 2,200 linear feet of Quick Qurve for the interior and exterior curves that highlight the clinic’s contemporary design. The sections link together to form any length, then are shaped to the desired radius and
locked into place using nails or staples. particularly good functionality in this case.” CO. “The single story, slab-on-grade structure
According to Wagner, the radius design Prior to the project, Wagner was not familiar clearly lent itself to wood framing. And virtuallowed the nurses’ station at the clinic to be with the framing product. “When the contractor ally every wall was a radius,” said Kramer. “This centered for good visibility of the examination showed it to me, I thought ‘what a great idea’.” was our fi rst experience using the curvable rooms. “I’m somewhat ‘old school’ and wood-framing system, but it was defi nitely less started the design process using a sketch Easy does it expensive to use Quick Qurve Plate versus pad,” Wagner said. “I like the look of curved The contractor was Lance Kramer, project manbuilding the radiuses in the fi eld. We spent a buildings and the radial design provided ager with FCI Constructors Inc., Grand Junction, little more on the material in order to spend less on the labor. If we hadn’t used it, Edge To Edge & Deck To Sky ™ we would have had two guys for a period of four weeks just cutting radiuses. Instead, those guys got to work on framing.”
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The curving corridors provide a sense of size that’s greater than actually exists. They draw the eye further into the clinic while helping patients feel calm.
Wagner advises fellow architects not to be hesitant about designing with curves. “Historically, architects may have thought of curved designs as being expensive,” he noted. “That certainly wasn’t the case with this project.”
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The Athens Theater has lived several lives since it was built in 1922, but it has come full circle to once again being a performing-arts center. An extensive renovation brought the building back to its original beauty after several clumsy remodels, including the mid-century façade shown below.
Undoing Renovation History
A venerable old theater comes full circle following renovation.
The Athens Theatre is one of the most distinctive buildings in the downtown DeLand National Register Historic District of Deland, FL. Designed in 1921 in an Italian Renaissance style by architect Murray S. King, Florida’s fi rst registered architect, the theater got its name from the vision of the city’s founder, Henry DeLand, who wanted to make the town the Athens of Florida.
The Athens Theatre opened in 1922 as a vaudeville and silent-movie house. Through the years, the theater’s façade was rendered unrecognizable through a series
of unsympathetic alterations, including its conversion to a dinner theater. The showplace evolved through the decades from a vaudeville theater to a movie house, a place for community theatre and prom parties, a dinner theater, a video-game room, a restaurant, and a teen night spot. Dozens of local residents remember it as the site of their first date, first kiss, and even as the place to go for a midnight matinee after the high school prom. However, following a renovation in the 1950s, the building deteriorated and eventually closed in the early 1990s.
It stood abandoned for many years and was in considerable disrepair by the time RJ Heisenbottle Architects (RJHA), Coral Gables, FL, received the commission to restore it. The RJHA design team’s fi rst goal was to restore the theater’s façade to its original appearance and adapt the interior to that of a fully functional performing-arts venue, maintaining its historic integrity while modifying the structure to accommodate modern theatrical and mechanical systems. The project’s single biggest challenge was installing a new orchestra pit without disturbing the integrity of the existing foundation system.
Another big change was going green. Because the original building had no air conditioning or insulation, the sustainability focus was primarily on energy conservation, specifi cally selection of the most effi cient airconditioning units available and improving the building’s thermal properties.
The RJHA team wanted to preserve the character-defi ning elements of the building’s historic façade, revealed after the subsequent façade was removed. Only about three-quarters of the original cast stone and decorative brickwork remained. Newly fabricated replacement materials had to match the original in color and texture. The original windows, doors, and marquee were missing too. Using historical photographs as a guide, the team replaced them with look-alike understudies.
Today, theatre and fi lm festivals are on the Athens’ marquee again. Classic movies and independent art fi lms, concerts, dramas, musicals, and other live performances are just a few of the programs that are being offered along with lectures and educational activities for students and adults. Restored to its original glory, the Athens is once again a key player in the town’s cultural community.
