Texas State University-San Marcos, founded in 1903, currently serves more than 28,000 students in 110 undergraduate and 96 graduate programs. Distinguished alumni include the 36th President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson. The main campus in San Marcos, Texas is situated on the edge of the beautiful Texas Hill Country. Construction of the university’s Speck Street Parking Garage with 735 parking spaces was completed in August, 2008 and designed to address the urgent need for more student and special events parking. The facility is located at a principal campus entrance and borders a quiet residential neighborhood. The design team was challenged to develop a highly-attractive façade that concealed parked cars, supported the Spanish Colonial architecture utilized throughout the campus, and met the mechanical ventilation requirements for the enclosed parking structure.
AUDI DEVON DEALERSHIP
This new, two-story, 50,000-square foot Audi dealership, opened in Devon, PA in December, 2014. It’s the first flagship terminal for Audi of America in the Philadelphia market.
The owner, YBH Auto Group, wanted to make a bold, eye-catching statement since the dealership is located on a street with several luxury dealerships such as Mercedes Benz and Maserati. YBH Audi includes a showroom with reception and office space, a service and repair shop and a car wash. Minimizing sound emitted from the business was also a priority because a residential area is directly behind the dealership.
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO HOSPITAL – ANSCHUTZ CANCER PAVILION
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.
Nueva School
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.
Koll Airport Professional Center
The recently renovated Koll Airport Professional Center in Irvine, CA received a LEED Silver Certificate in 2009 from the U.S. Green Building Council for Core and Shell. In fact, the building is considered one of the nation’s very first LEED-certified office condominiums. The remarkable transformation of a run-down, two-story, 63,225 square-foot office and warehouse into an eye-catching, single story, energy-efficient, 40,000 square foot office building is the subject of much admiration in Southern California. After removing the second story from the original building, the architects split the lower level into two almost completely separated buildings, added more windows for better daylighting and created two new inviting entryways that provide access to a wide variety of office spaces.
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.
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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MIAMI BEACH CITY HALL PARKING GARAGE
The Vision
This seven-story City Hall Parking Garage in Miami Beach, Florida was completed in 2009 as the final addition to the city’s Civic Center Campus. It poses a stunning architectural statement while serving as a gateway to the city’s historic Art Deco district. The 300,000 square foot facility includes 38,550 square feet of office space and connects to the city hall administration building via a pedestrian bridge. The garage also provides event parking for the nearby Miami Beach Convention Center and Lincoln Road Mall commercial center.
CHANDLER-GILBERT COMMUNITY COLLEGE WILLIAMS CAMPUS
The Vision
Chandler-Gilbert Community College, Mesa, Arizona, serves more than 16,000 students at three different locations in the Southeast Valley of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The 753-acre Williams Campus was originally created from a portion of the former Williams Air Force Base and is in close proximity to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. In December, 2008, the college completed construction of Engel Hall, a spectacular new 20,778 square-foot nursing classroom and faculty office building and 6,000 square-foot covered outdoor plaza on the Williams Campus. The first floor of the facility houses student classrooms, laboratory spaces and lounge areas; the second floor houses faculty offices.
Engel Hall was developed as part of the Williams Education Research and Training Master Plan and with an administration directive to provide the college with a new standard of design and architectural materials for future expansion projects across the campus. Achieving maximum energy efficiency and indoor air comfort by minimizing the impact of the hot Arizona sun and a minimum LEED Gold Certification were key requirements of this project. Materials and products employed in the facility were selected based on their insulative value, their durability under extreme regional weather conditions, their visual and textural intrigue, their recycled content and their regional availability.
The Airolite Look…
Architects positioned Engel Hall’s building footprint and created exterior facades to establish a revitalized street presence to the adjacent avenue. The building’s low-profile and sleek lines are visually integrated with the expansive horizon that surrounds the campus. Engel Hall’s engaging but understated exterior immediately projects a progressive, contemporary image for the college and helps support the Master Plan’s recommendation to create new space that “represents the place of this institution in its community.”
A sweeping veil of Airolite sun controls spans the entire length and height of Engel Hall’s second floor providing a very distinctive, visual intrigue to the building during daylight hours and a stunning presence when backlit from the interior at night. The stylish second floor wall of Airolite sun controls also provides a dramatic framed view of the Superstition Mountains for visitors standing in the outdoor plaza where graduation ceremonies, concerts, trade fairs and other campus events will be held. The sun controls’ Kynar 500® Pearlescent Warm Silver finish matches the adjacent storefront and ceiling systems.
That Works
Vital shading provided by the sun controls contribute to energy-efficient cooling and desired thermal comfort for faculty offices without obstructing interior views of the surrounding campus.
Six-inch Airolite airfoil blades form the continuous length and height of the second floor. Blades are arrayed horizontally at 6 inches on center with a solar orientation of 30 degrees and were delivered to the site in approximately 10 feet wide x 6 feet high factory-assembled sections. Each sun control section is secured to steel trusses which also support the overhanging second floor. In addition, the flexibility of the Airolite sun controls relative to solar orientation helped with the user’s thermal comfort, and their recycled material content helped in achieving LEED Gold Certification. Airolite’s sun controls provided shade for the faculty offices, which in turn created a more pleasing visual environment and a more comfortable thermal environment for the users. The sun controls helped contribute to reduced solar heat gain which resulted in reduced cooling and energy consumption. “Airolite’s architectural louvers provided a design element that subtly and successfully addressed the functional needs of the users, energy efficiency requirements of the building, and our own aesthetic goals as a design firm,” stated Paul Goldammer, project manager for Gabor Lorant Architects, Inc.
DONALD M. PAYNE, SR., SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY
The Vision
The construction of the Donald M. Payne, Sr. School of Technology brought a new level in career technical education to Newark, New Jersey. Named for the late educator and congressman, the school offers students classes that serve as steppingstones to programs offered by local colleges and universities.
More than 1,100 students attend the school. Its three-story footprint is 320,000 square feet and holds 58 traditional classrooms and 30 larger spaces for specialized programs including the building trades. Students can choose from a wide variety of technical programs that include music production, cyber security, culinary arts, forensic sciences, green energy, and cosmetology.
The facility’s size required several rooftop air handling units to meet the ventilation needs. Wanting to maintain
a clean look for the rooftop, specifications called for using louver screens to hide the equipment from view. The contractor selected Airolite’s inverted blade louver screen, model ENCB609 to hide the equipment from view and offer an attractive appearance for people looking at the facility.
The Airolite Look…
The specifications called for using more than 1,500 linear feet of louver screens to hide the rooftop equipment in more than seven locations on the roof. Airolite’s model ENCB6096 with its horizontal and inverted blades and six-inch depth offered an ideal aesthetic look while ensuring people saw none of the equipment on the roof. Many sections of the louvers had varying height dimensions. The neighborhood around the school also posed a challenge to the setup and installation of the louvers. Fully-assembled louvers in shipment crates were too large to navigate the narrow streets and surrounding property. Contractors asked if the louvers could be delivered in a knocked down (unassembled) form on three separate shipments.
The staggered delivery schedule required coordination between Airolite and the contractors to ensure the louver screens were available when needed. Airolite coordinated the special crating, sequencing and labeling for a smooth and easy install. Since the screens were unassembled, the blades needed to be snapped in place on the louver “tree,” long brackets on which the blades are attached. This assembly required precise placement to maintain the continuous straight lines created by the louver blades. The contractor used a laser to ensure the lines of the louver blades were straight.
That Works
Airolite louver screen ENCB6096 is a versatile, horizontal and inverted blade louver screen that functions extremely well as a sight and security barrier. Its inverted blades help deflect sound upward and away from the surrounding neighborhood, keeping rooftop equipment noise to a minimum.
The completion of the Donald M. Payne, Sr. School of Technology was on time and under budget. Several factors contributed. Many cited Airolite’s ability to work with contractors and deliver the louver screen in the knockdown form. The well-marked, knockdown crating allowed for on-time delivery and easy assembly without overwhelming the assembly area because of narrow streets and limited space. Others mentioned the long spans of the screen. They remarked how it not only hid rooftop equipment but added to the sleek design of the building.