Project Type: Executive Office
Problem: A country club needed an elegant, easy way to separate its formal dining room and sometimes boisterous adjacent bar.
Solution/Description of the Installation: Our Series 3300 dual-wall door provides the visual separation and a degree of sound control that keeps all members happy. Plus, it opens effortlessly when an event calls for traffic flow between both areas.
Blended seamlessly into the surrounding landscape, the new Burrell Behavioral Health administrative campus is an excellent example of how natural light and views of the outdoors can be incorporated into a building’s design to create a healthy and calming environment for workers. The 48,620-square-foot space was repurposed from what was previously a higher education building for behavioral health sciences and is now home to a variety of formal and informal meeting spaces for Burrell staff. A new addition also serves as the facility’s main entrance and focal point.
Guardian 275® translucent wall panels over the main doors not only add a charming aesthetic, but the panel’s Verti-Lite™ grid pattern also provides the perfect backdrop for the building’s signage. Incorporating the company name with the translucent panels allows the building’s interior lighting to gently outline the lettering, making it visible both day and night and saving energy by eliminating the need for illuminated signage or additional outdoor lighting.
The project goals included providing savannah-like views of the Chesapeake Bay and opening the interior fully for natural ventilation. The plan also called for thermal insulation when the operable glass walls are closed.
Location : Lake Stevens, WA
Product : Excel 741 Operable Partitions
Architect : NAC Architecture
The Vision
On February 2, 2004, the University of Colorado Hospital opened the beautiful new Anschutz Cancer Pavilion on the new Fitzsimons Campus located in Aurora, Colorado. Physicians, employees and patients participated in the design of the state-of- the-art $148.8 million hospital, helping the architects achieve a functional, efficient building with spectacular views of the nearby Rocky Mountains. An important sustainability goal was to maximize the use of natural daylight, while using energy efficient controls to turn-off light fixtures in corridors and exterior areas during bright daylight hours. The reliance on natural daylight resulted in the design team’s need to control glare and heat transmitted through glazing and window systems.
The Airolite Look…
A massive curvilinear window system frames the western view of the mountains from the ambulatory care center. This ten-foot high wall of glass paints a constantly evolving image of the changing seasons evidenced in the roof garden and the majestic Rocky Mountain backdrop. At the same time, this large expanse of glass poses monumental challenges for maintaining energy efficiency. The height of the glass wall dictated a monumental horizontal sun control projection of more than eight and one-half feet to shade the windows to inhibit thermal heat transmittance and glare during peak daylight hours.
A complimentary sun control design with a comparatively modest maximum 4′-0″ projection is utilized over windows in patient rooms located in the south-facing wall to support operation of the patient-operated environmental controls. A special fascia element maintains continuity of the horizontal linear configuration across the red masonry façade.
That Works
Notwithstanding the use of extruded aluminum elements to reduce the weight of the eight and one-half foot sun control assemblies, the extended projection resulted in significant moment forces transferred to the structure by the sun controls. This problem was addressed by departing from the window supplier’s standard frame, which was not designed to accommodate the substantial moment forces transferred by the sun control outrigger. Instead, a horizontal steel member was incorporated in the exterior wall design to address the loads transferred by the sun controls. The sun control outriggers are secured to the steel member with brackets which project through painted aluminum cladding. In addition, the maximum wind design forces required the use of diagonal stainless steel support rods to mitigate the moment forces transferred to the steel member located in the exterior wall design.
The designer elected to utilize vertical extruded aluminum tubes spaced six-inches on center to achieve crisp, uniform, and sharply defined sight lines for the sun control infill. The close center spacing of the vertical tube blades yield a sun cut-off angle that prevents sunlight from passing between the blades except at its maximum height. The hollow shape dissipates heat easily and is a rigid member that can accommodate the 5′-0″ maximum span without difficulty. To alleviate the costly and cumbersome task of fabricating each tube blade to the constantly changing radius, the factory-assembled sun control sections were designed to be segmented about the curvilinear window configuration.
Surprisingly, only the fascia element is radiused to lend the perception that the entire sun control system is comprised of a series of non-linear segments. Lastly, selection of a white fluoropolymer coating enhances the sun control’s capacity to deflect sunlight, head and glare from the windows below and through windows located above the sun control to enable diffused daylight to be projected across interior spaces.
Sasaki collaborated closely with Kingspan, Hopkins, Arup, Consigli, and Total Wall to design, prototype, test and successfully install a custom QuadCore insulated panel connection system for the building envelope at Colby College’s Harold Alfond Recreation and Athletics Centre.
QuadCore is thin, lightweight and thermally efficient, which can lead to carbon savings in transport and building structures in certain applications.
The high-performance connection system captures the top and bottom of each insulated panel along the facade, which greatly reduced the number of envelope penetrations as well as the amount of secondary steel required for lateral support.
In fact, the use of QuadCore insulated panels at Colby College enabled the elimination of 22.7 tonnes of steel support girts. Utilisation of insulated panel’s inherent structural capacity coupled with the reduction in steel structure, significantly lowered the associated embodied carbon.
The Vision
Learn by doing, learn by care is the driving force behind the culture of the Nueva School. The private school, founded in 1967, develops and nurtures gifted children to maximize their potential. They engage students using project-based and social-emotional learning, tailored the needs of each student.
Nueva School started as a pre-K through middle school and in 2014 expanded to a second campus to house its high school program. The new campus in San Mateo provided the opportunity to approach secondary education with a greater connection to community. According to the school’s website, the San Mateo campus was, “designed to use 65% less energy than a typical high school,” and a “transit-oriented campus . . . conceived as a ‘living laboratory’ that will inspire . . .”
The architectural design of the San Mateo campus incorporated many custom sunshade products that provided functional thermal reduction while captivating the attention of all who see it.
The Airolite Look…
The design of sun control products from Airolite emphasizes reducing heat transfer while still permitting natural lighting. The sun control products for the Nueva School all were custom designed and included origami-shaped sunscreens for smaller windows and sun shades having dimensions up to 25’ 4” wide by 27’ 4”. A critical requirement for the large sun shades was the ability to install easily. Airolite products are designed for easy installation; however the sheer size of the sun shades demanded additional engineering to minimize the labor needed for field installation. Working with the contractors, Airolite engineers developed a plan to build and deliver the larger sun shades in several sections instead of assembling individual pieces on-site. This planning resulted in field labor savings of more than 50%.
Attaching the larger sun shades to the building also required a non-standard approach to ensure these products could stand up to the point load and wind loads. In place of traditional methods, engineers developed a process to attach the sun shades using brackets that went into the wall structure prior to the window system. The brackets attached to steel plates providing the necessary support to hold each sun shade in place.
Aesthetics also were important to the project. Architects and school leaders wanted to stimulate the young minds of the students, making it important that every aspect of the facility achieved this goal. All Airolite sun control products attached to the Nueva School had to match exact primary and secondary colors specified.
That Works
The San Mateo campus of the Nueva School opened in 2014 as a non-traditional approach to secondary education. The campus achieved LEED Gold certification, meeting its goal of using up to 65% less energy.
Airolite custom sun control products assisted in helping the school achieve its LEED certification. The sun shades prevented heat transfer from sun glare yet allowed light and air from San Francisco Bay to flow in the windows unobstructed. Airolite offers custom solutions regardless of the size of the product required.
Project Type: Computer/Telcom Room
Problem: Due to increased security concerns, a company needed a way to protect its computer and telecommunications equipment without causing problems with heat build-up.
Solution/Description of the Installation: By specifying our sturdy Series 640 Alumifold door in sleek, perforated aluminum, the company is now able to ensure lockable security and also provide the ventilation needed to keep equipment running trouble-free.
