'Fiery' metal panels evoke Hawaii's molten lava at Honolulu Design Center

Looking to create a façade for the Honolulu Design Center that is contemporary for Hawaii, yet fits into the naturally dramatic island backdrop, architect Matthew Gilbertson, principal with RIM Architects, Honolulu, designed a curving exterior form that evokes ocean waves. Gilbertson clad the undulating façade with custom-created “Honolulu Red” Alucobond panels finished with a highly reflective pearlescent gloss that produces kaleidoscopic color changes in the panels from orange to bright red and even golden under various lighting conditions. The color is used to reference the fiery hues of molten lava cooling as it flows to the sea. Silver metallic Alucobond panels are juxtaposed in a convex “reflected wave” that suggests the interplay of waves at water's edge.

The bold lines and colors create a “wow” factor that draws the eye to the three-story, 80,000-sf center, which is part contemporary furniture retailer and part gathering place for Honolulu's contemporary arts community. Huge expanses of glass on the convex front façade showcase the contents of the building and lure people inside.

Elward Systems Corp., Lakewood, Colo., the fabricator of the 4mm-thick Alucobond polyethylene-core composite panels used on the project, employed its Secondary Guttered Rainscreen wall panel system utilizing a route and return process. The system is designed to protect the panels from moisture and internally guttered to direct water to the bottom of the wall for efficient weepage.

Alucobond

Input No. 212 at BDCnetwork.com/quickResponse