RPC

Rob Pelletier Construction, Inc. Houston Texas

Wapiti House

The Wapiti Valley of northwest Wyoming lies between the city of Cody and the entrance to Yellowstone National Park. The area is an outdoorsman’s dream: wildlife, interesting rock formations and plenty of activities including hiking, horseback riding, fishing and more are available for the daring.

The site was selected as a second home for a couple from Los Angeles, the pair looking for a second home where they could unwind, breathe the fresh Northern Rockies air, and take in the rugged, breathtaking views.

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AvL Technologies Corporate Office and Manufacturing Center

The Vision

A single-story strip mall built on an 8-acre site in 1985 in Asheville, NC, had deteriorated to the point where a developer was ready to tear it down and rebuild. Instead the 60,000 square-foot structure–-anchored by a supermarket — was transformed in 2012 into a very attractive corporate office and manufacturing center for AvL Technologies. AvL manufactures mobile satellite communications antennae systems and positioners. Its new corporate office and manufacturing center is now part of an urban village development including contemporary shops, restaurants and residential condominiums. Small shops in the existing building became light-filled offices, and the large grocery and drug store spaces are now dedicated to manufacturing functions. The brick facade, walls, slabs, steel and bar joist structure are all original construction.

The Airolite Look…

The building appears new and designed specifically for its current use, but in reality very little is new. Several design elements featuring custom-engineered Airolite products helped create the new corporate identity desired. Vertical louvers or a brise soleil and perforated aluminum sun controls provide a contemporary and striking visual first impression—adding texture, scaling and detail to the building. A new main public entrance is identified by a sculpture and structural elements that also provide a compositional balance to the louvered façade.

The vertical brise soleil was produced with 12- inch deep extruded aluminum airfoil blades and is supported by adjacent vertical columns. This prominent structure poses bold sight and shadow lines making a dramatic statement with the new façade that reflects the state-of-the-art satellite communications technologies produced within the facility. As a complement to the monumental vertical brise soleil, a horizontal band of sun controls incorporating 0.125″ thick aluminum sheet with ½” diameter round holes spaced 11/16″ on center in a staggered pattern are canted from tube steel supports to provide contrast, texture, scaling and further detail.

That Works

The monumental vertical brise soleil shades and protects the entry to the manufacturing space. The perforated sun controls also yield thermal shading and manage glare imposed on the west-facing windows to advance the energy efficiency goals for the renovation. Tube steel structures frame each window opening and provide support for wind and snow-load forces that cannot be accommodated by the original wall construction. The louvers and sun controls were customized to accommodate the architect’s unique design intent.

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Art for Arts’ Sake

Winston-Salem, the City of Arts and Innovation, has a new facility for artists. Designed to be an economic catalyst for neighbourhood growth, the 14,500-square foot Art for Art’s Sake (AFAS) building features two galleries, an art centre for community education, artist studios for rent, an AFAS board room, event space, leased office space and an outdoor sculpture garden on the building’s front lawn. Together, the unique campus provides a new indoor/outdoor venue for the city, furthering the non-profit AFAS mission to “build, educate and celebrate” community through art.

By cladding the building with UniQuad panels in ice white matte over ice white matte, the UniQuad system met Stitch Design Shop’s energy performance needs and desired look – all in a single panel design.

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Hotel Californian Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara has an amazing addition with this new four star resort Hotel Californian, beautifully designed by DesignArc and built by MATT Construction. L2 Specialties provided some amazing finishes and operable walls from Moderco to maximize the Ball Rooms and event spaces.

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The Ashton

The spectacular new Ashton luxury apartment tower is a $96 million, 36-story multifamily development in the heart of downtown Austin, Texas. Ashton offers 259 luxury living units, including a seventh-fl oor pool deck and two-story penthouse level, as well as fi ve levels of below-grade parking for an adjacent offi ce tower and six levels of above-grade parking for residents. Overlooking Lady Bird Lake on one side and downtown on the other, Ashton is located in Austin’s popular 2nd Street District with retail, dining and entertainment venues. At 36 stories, Ashton is now one of the tallest buildings in the city and makes a bold addition to the “New Austin” skyline. The project was initiated in August of 2006 and will be completed in October, 2009.

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The Advanced Learning Library

The Advanced Learning Library is a state-of-the-art library located in Wichita, KS. The largest operable wall on this project is very unique in that the wall is Crystal glass on top with the bottom 36” being a solid Signature. This rare combination helps in achieving the 12’7” ceiling height requirement as well as a rare aesthetic touch. More importantly, the outstanding acoustical performance of the wall enables them to separate their sometimes-noisy lobby from their main library which requires absolute silence for readers or open the entire area up for large events. In addition, this wall allows for multiple configurations allowing or not allowing guest to use the stairs.

Product : Crystal 241 molded together with Signature 841

Architect : GLMV Architecture

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Lubbock Elementary

Through their educational journey, students undergo significant changes as their cognitive abilities magnify at each grade level. Learning spaces change and develop, much as the brain does. This idea accommodates the academic development of children and improves the understandings of cognition. As young learners move through elementary grades the classrooms become more structured, from shared rolling tables to individual desks. To implement progressive 21st Century learning, forward-thinking schools are working alongside architects to develop innovative design methods that enable collaboration and flexibility of space. Such efforts have found a solution in “learning hubs,” a grouping of classrooms around a centralized area, where kids work together, and teachers join in an exchange of resources. Lubbock Cooper Independent School District (LCISD) in Texas implements these findings throughout their K-12 campuses with one common goal: the success of all students.

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Living Learning Community

The Vision
The University of Nevada, Reno completed construction of a new five-story, 124,000-square-foot Living Learning Community building in June 2012 to accommodate up to 320 students. Living learning communities are designed to integrate student learning with on-campus residential living, helping students make connections and develop friendships with those who have similar academic interests. Students are assigned to the same floor in the residence hall, take one or more core courses in the building and actively participate in their floor communities. The University of Nevada, Reno, currently offers nine distinctive Living Learning Communities within the building focused on journalism, business, Women in Science and Engineering, education, pre-nursing, engineering, art and honors. The accommodations in the building are suite-style with three different configurations housing four, five, or six students per suite.

The Airolite Look…
livinglearning-2.jpgThe new Nevada Living Learning Community is the first of its kind on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno. This innovative structure and striking design were intended to serve as a recruiting tool and make a dramatic statement about the University’s commitment to sustainable and contemporary architectural design. The environmentally sensitive design included many features that helped the building earn LEED Silver Certification.

The architect and building owner wanted to maximize outdoor views and daylight in the common areas where students gather to enhance the living experience while reducing solar heat gain.

Eighty-two sections of Airolite vertical rectangulartube sun contols and horizontal airfoil sun controls were installed on the front façade/atrium area with a southern exposure to provide a unique and aesthetically pleasing solution to daylighting and energy control objectives. Another section of sun controls was installed on the building’s West-facing elevation overlooking an outdoor courtyard area. All the sun controls as well as nine sections of Airolite Drainable Louvers (Model K6774) were finished with a custom, color match two-coat gold Kynar 500® resin coating selected by the architect to match window and curtainwall systems while complementing the red and gold tones in the exterior brick work.

That Works
livinglearning-3.jpg

Custom sun controls were strategically placed horizontally on several elevations to allow abundant views from the interior. The vertical sun controls were installed between the curtainwall systems’ deep decorative caps. All product was finished with a custom, color match two-coat gold Kynar 500® resin coating.

The Airolite louvers, Model K6774, can achieve high volume air flow while providing superior resistance to water penetration. Drainable louvers are fabricated with gutters at the front edge of each blade to prevent water droplets from dropping onto lower blades and entering the intake air flow.

Architect Peter Grove of Collaborative Design Studio was very pleased with the look and functionality of the Airolite louvers and sun controls. He stated, “The nice clean lines, style and depth of shades provide the look and daylight desired while also reducing solar heat gain.”

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UpCycle Office

Sector: Offices

Location: Austin, Texas, USA

Architect: Gensler

Photography: Dror Baldinger FAIA Architectural Photography

In the heart of East Austin, Texas, on the site of a former recycling centre, new type of shared office space is utilising elements from the former warehouses of the neighbourhood. UpCycle repurposes almost all of the original 1972 warehouse building.

The building becomes energy efficient by using Kingspan Karrier Panel under this skin, insulating the building envelope. The ethos of the building seeks to highlight its industrial past, and even includes a repurposed train car which serves as a front porch lounge equipped with seating, WiFi and music.

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Spinologics Montreal

Spinologics, a Canadian company based in Montreal, is all about people. Founded by three orthopedic surgeons dedicated to improving people’s lives through the development of surgical tools and techniques, they brought this philosophy of people first with them when designing the interior of their corporate offices. Not a large area but one filled with dynamic activity, teamwork, visual interaction, and the need for acoustical privacy. A Crystal wall system from Moderco was the perfect solution. The Moderco distributor, Cometal, had to modify a confined existing space for the wall and a storage area. Portions of the existing permanent walls were demolished; a custom designed track system was designed & installed on a new structural support system & the permanent wall were acoustically insulated and painted, all with minimal disruption to Spinologics operations. The result is an extremely happy & satisfied customer. Projects do not have to be large to be of significance. The capabilities of our distribution are far more than just operable walls. The desire of both Moderco and Cometal in all projects is to have a satisfied customer. We believe we have succeeded.

 

Product : Crystal Glass STC 44 Acoustical Wall System

Architect : A custom design project from Cometal & Moderco.