Don’t hide those solar panels on the roof... Make a design statement!
Architects are coming up with all kinds of creative ways to integrate green building technologies into their designs in an effort to make a green statement.
Designers at Centrepoint Architecture, Raleigh, N.C., took an interesting approach to solar power for the LEED Platinum Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, N.C. Instead of placing the hotel’s rooftop solar panels out of sight, they propped the 100-panel array 10 feet in the air, creating a “crown of black triangles” that tie in with the hotel’s signage and modern industrial design aesthetic, according to Centrepoint’s Tom Murphy, AIA.
“Originally, we looked at a number of options for screening the panels, but during design discussions, we thought: Why are we trying to hide them? Why don’t we celebrate what they are and add a little bit of an industrial saw-tooth effect at the top of the building,” says Murphy.
Using the project’s Revit BIM 3D model, the design team studied the solar installation from several vantage points and adjusted the platform size, configuration, and location to achieve the desired look. “With the BIM model, we were able to view what the panels would look like from the nearby Interstate, all entrance points, and from down below, and made necessary adjustments to create the best effect,” says Murphy.
The solar panels provide hot water for the hotel and are expected to help Proximity use 39% less energy than comparable hotels. Proximity is the nation’s first hotel to achieve LEED Platinum status.
Interesting note on the hotel’s developer: Dennis Quaintance (pictured below) made his first buck at the tender age of seven collecting and selling desert rocks as “wonder stones.” (No kidding, read for yourself: http://www.proximityhotel.com/dennis.htm)
Have you seen similar creative design solutions for showing off green building technologies? Email pics to dbarista@reedbusiness.com. I’ll post all good submissions in an upcoming blog post.
