1. Vinyl Flooring
Parterre
Project: Pointe Place, Dover, N.H. Problem: A durable flooring product was needed to withstand the rigors of multifamily living. Solution: 50,000 sf of Parterre’s Winter Oak and Evening Oak wood-look vinyl flooring options were used in the kitchens, living areas, entry ways, closets, and laundry rooms of each unit. On the team: Summit Land Development (developer).
Insulation and roofing
Atlas Roofing
Project: Veterans Community Project, Kansas City, Mo. Problem: VCP, a community of tiny homes to help combat veteran homelessness, needed an affordable insulation and roofing approach that would ensure long-term cost-efficiency. Solution: Atlas Roofing donated Atlas EnergyShield, ACFoam CrossVent, Pinnacle Pristine with Scotchgard, and ThermalStar X-Grade to the project. The products helped VCP tiny homes achieve thermal performance of the building envelope to save money and increase energy efficiency. On the team: AG3 Architects (architect).
3. Acoustic Panels
Kirei
Project: Rowayton Elementary School, Norwalk, Conn. Problem: The school’s new full-time cafeteria needed an acoustic solution that could double as a key design element. Solution: Custom-cut acoustic panels from Kirei were incorporated into the cafeteria’s nautical theme. A whale made from seven individual pieces of EchoPanel, acoustic clouds, and custom-cut pieces (also made from EchoPanel) meant to mimic waves embrace the new cafeteria’s design while improving the cafeteria’s acoustics. The acoustic whale is about 40 feet long and 11 feet tall. On the team: Antinozzi Associates (architect).
4. Metal Building
Star Building Systems
Project: Templeton Rye Distillery, Templeton, Iowa. Problem: A new Templeton distillery was needed to meet high demand. Solution: Multiple metal building systems were used to create the design of a tall central tower section that houses the distillation equipment with the lower rooflines spreading around it. The central section is made up of two metal building systems, a tall one with a smaller one on top of it to create the point of the tower. The walls were then closed with Metl-Span insulated metal panels provided by Star. On the team: Simonson & Associates Architects (architect), Iron Steel Co. (wall and roof panel installation), Edge Commercial (GC).
5. architectural glass
J.E. Berkowitz
Courtesy Tom Crane.
Project: Terminal F, Philadelphia International Airport. Problem: One of airport’s busiest terminals underwent a massive modernization to accommodate increased traffic. Solution: J.E. Berkowitz fabricated more than 7,000 sf of glass for the project. This included 141 Winduo insulating glass units in 125 shapes and sizes for the new baggage claim building, and an Invisiwall point-supported glass canopy spanning the building’s outside pick-up zone. JEB also fabricated an Invisiwall point-supported glass wall with 2,400 sf of Fusion laminated glass. On the team: The Sheward Partnership (architect).
6. Lighting Controls
ETC
Project: Ocean5, Middleton, Wis. Problem: The multipurpose facility’s bowling alley required lighting controls that would simplify the complex lighting display. Solution: ETC’s Paradigm, Echo, and Mosaic controls were installed. Mosaic runs shows on LEDs that light mesh paneling behind each lane and DMX-controlled fixtures within the pinsetters. The shows are triggered by inputs on the Paradigm Touchscreens. Echo daylight and occupancy sensors are used to adjust lights to the appropriate levels.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Financial Wizardry Builds a Community
At 69 square miles, Vineland is New Jersey's largest city, at least in geographic area, and it has a rich history. It was established in 1861 as a planned community (well before there were such things) by the utopian Charles Landis. It was in Vineland that Dr. Thomas Welch found a way to preserve grape juice without fermenting it, creating a wine substitute for church use (the town was dry).
| Aug 11, 2010
World's tallest all-wood residential structure opens in London
At nine stories, the Stadthaus apartment complex in East London is the world’s tallest residential structure constructed entirely in timber and one of the tallest all-wood buildings on the planet. The tower’s structural system consists of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels pieced together to form load-bearing walls and floors. Even the elevator and stair shafts are constructed of prefabricated CLT.
| Aug 11, 2010
Integrated Project Delivery builds a brave, new BIM world
Three-dimensional information, such as that provided by building information modeling, allows all members of the Building Team to visualize the many components of a project and how they work together. BIM and other 3D tools convey the idea and intent of the designer to the entire Building Team and lay the groundwork for integrated project delivery.
| Aug 11, 2010
Let There Be Daylight
The new public library in Champaign, Ill., is drawing 2,100 patrons a day, up from 1,600 in 2007. The 122,600-sf facility, which opened in January 2008, certainly benefits from amenities that the old 40,000-sf library didn't have—electronic check-in and check-out, new computers, an onsite coffeehouse.
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Healthcare
11. Operating Room-Integrated MRI will Help Neurosurgeons Get it Right the First Time A major limitation of traditional brain cancer surgery is the lack of scanning capability in the operating room. Neurosurgeons do their best to visually identify and remove the cancerous tissue, but only an MRI scan will confirm if the operation was a complete success or not.
| Aug 11, 2010
29 Great Solutions
1. Riverwalk Transforms Chicago's Second Waterfront Chicago has long enjoyed a beautiful waterfront along Lake Michigan, but the Windy City's second waterfront along the Chicago River was often ignored and mostly neglected. Thanks to a $22 million rehab by local architect Carol Ross Barney and her associate John Fried, a 1.
| Aug 11, 2010
High-Performance Modular Classrooms Hit the Market
Over a five-day stretch last December, students at the Carroll School in Lincoln, Mass., witnessed the installation of a modular classroom building like no other. The new 950-sf structure, which will serve as the school's tutoring offices for the next few years, is loaded with sustainable features like sun-tunnel skylights, doubled-insulated low-e glazing, a cool roof, light shelves, bamboo tri...
| Aug 11, 2010
BIM school, green school: California's newest high-performance school
Nestled deep in the Napa Valley, the city of American Canyon is one of a number of new communities in Northern California that have experienced tremendous growth in the last five years. Located 42 miles northeast of San Francisco, American Canyon had a population of just over 9,000 in 2000; by 2008, that figure stood at 15,276, with 28% of the population under age 18.
| Aug 11, 2010
Platinum Award: The Handmade Building
When Milwaukee's City Hall was completed in 1896, it was, at 394 feet in height, the third-tallest structure in the United States. Designed by Henry C. Koch, it was a statement of civic pride and a monument to Milwaukee's German heritage. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2005.
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Products
14. Mod Pod A Nod to Flex Biz Designed by the British firm Tate + Hindle, the OfficePOD is a flexible office space that can be installed, well, just about anywhere, indoors or out. The self-contained modular units measure about seven feet square and are designed to serve as dedicated space for employees who work from home or other remote locations.