Modular metal panel offers sloped depth for a variety of applications
Intercept RZR, an addition to Centria’s Intercept modular metal panel system, is a high-performance rainscreen system that creates the option for sloped panel depth of up to four inches. The product is available in both horizontal and vertical applications and can be specified in zinc or aluminum substrates. It is offered in depths of 13/8 to four inches with panel lengths that span up to 138 inches (aluminum), 120 inches (zinc), 48 inches (aluminum), and 32 inches (zinc). Available in a variety of colors and finish options, the Intercept modular metal panel system makes use of a unique fabrication process for variations in size and shape. Custom designs can also be created based on project requirements.
Hydraulic glass-clad doors open a Seattle tavern to the outside
Sam’s Tavern in Seattle opened in early 2017 as part of a newly constructed 12-story office building. The restaurant and bar used two glass-clad hydraulic doors from Schweiss Doors to open the restaurant up to an outside patio with additional seating for 20 patrons. The custom-made doors measure 11 feet, 8¾ inches wide by 9 feet tall and include electric photo eye sensors. The hydraulic pumps that run the Schweiss cylinders are mounted inside the building near the doors. Originally, the pump motors were to be mounted on the ceiling, but there wasn’t enough room. The doors have an industrial aesthetic and also provide a protective canopy to outside diners when opened. The doors can be run independently of each other and stop safely at any level.
Motorized screens add a layer of protection for 40 outdoors diners
Eating outdoors always sounds like a good idea, but bright and hot sunlight, wind, or blown rain can make it less appealing. At Princi Italia, a restaurant in West Plano, Texas, these common peccadilloes associated with eating outside are dealt with via a motorized Era Mat system from Nice Group USA, which powers shades along the perimeter of the restaurant’s patio. Seven motor-driven shades capture the air warmed by outdoor heaters on colder days while still providing views of the outdoors thanks to incorporated windows. On more pleasant days, the screens can be raised out of the way. A remote control opens and closes the windows.
Condensing boiler is built for outdoor installation
The Crest Condensing Boiler line from Lochinvar is expanding with models built for the outdoors. The Outdoor Crest boiler can withstand strong winds, downpours, and UV exposure while remaining highly efficient on both space and energy. The compact units offer space savings for large public and commercial facilities like school systems, universities, and libraries. All outdoor Crest models come standard with the CON•X•US remote connectivity platform that allows commercial facility managers and building owners to monitor and adjust equipment controls from a mobile app. Additionally, the Smart Touch control system is built in each outdoor model and features an eight-inch touchscreen and multi-color interface. As many as eight Crest boilers can be cascaded together. Models range from 750,000 to two million btu/hr.
Acoustic mesh panels control acoustics without compromising design
GKD Metal Fabrics’ Acoustic Mesh Panels are interior aluminum-based panels designed to improve poor workplace and commercial acoustic environments. The panels incorporate a sag-free, one-inch-thick honeycomb support plate, layered with an intermediate blanket of fiber-free acoustic fleece to dampen noise. Lights, downlights, and sprinklers can be easily integrated within the Acoustic Mesh Panels. The panels can also be removed and refitted quickly for maintenance purposes.
LEED Gold texas library incorporates curtain wall, storefront systems
The Seguin (Texas) Public Library recently tore down its old library and replaced it with one three times larger. The LEED Gold building used Tubelite’s curtain wall and storefront frames to bring natural views and light into the library that sits along the banks of Walnut Creek. Bulverde Glass, the project’s glazing contractor, used 16,300 sf of Tubelite’s 400 Series Curtainwall and T1400 I/O storefront, plus four Wide Stile doors and frames. With the help of Tubelite’s curtain wall with high-performance glass, a quiet room extends into the branches of a pecan tree to provide visitors with the feeling of sitting in a transparent tree house. Tubelite was selected for its value, aesthetic flexibility, and reliable structural performance. The library earned LEED Gold certification earlier this year.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
America's Greenest Hospital
Hospitals are energy gluttons. With 24/7/365 operating schedules and stringent requirements for air quality in ORs and other clinical areas, an acute-care hospital will gobble up about twice the energy per square foot of, say, a commercial office building. It is an achievement worth noting, therefore, when a major hospital achieves LEED Platinum status, especially when that hospital attains 14 ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Concrete Solutions
About five or six years ago, officials at the University of California at Berkeley came to the conclusion that they needed to build a proper home for the university's collection of 900,000 rare Chinese, Japanese, and Korean books and materials. East Asian studies is an important curriculum at Berkeley, with more than 70 scholars teaching some 200 courses devoted to the topic, and Berkeley's pro...
| Aug 11, 2010
Piano's 'Flying Carpet'
Italian architect Renzo Piano refers to his $294 million, 264,000-sf Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago as a “temple of light.” That's all well and good, but how did Piano and the engineers from London-based Arup create an almost entirely naturally lit interior while still protecting the priceless works of art in the Institute's third-floor galleries from dangerous ultravio...
| Aug 11, 2010
Precast All the Way
For years, precast concrete has been viewed as a mass-produced product with no personality or visual appeal—the vanilla of building materials. Thanks to recent technological innovations in precast molds and thin veneers, however, that image is changing. As precast—concrete building components that are poured and molded offsite—continues to develop a vibrant personality all it...
| Aug 11, 2010
Bronze Award: John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, Ill.
To complete the $55 million renovation of the historic John G. Shedd Aquarium in the allotted 17-month schedule, the Building Team had to move fast to renovate and update exhibit and back-of-house maintenance spaces, expand the visitor group holding area, upgrade the mechanical systems, and construct a single-story steel structure on top of the existing oceanarium to accommodate staff office sp...
| Aug 11, 2010
AIA Course: Building with concrete – Design and construction techniques
Concrete maintains a special reputation for strength, durability, flexibility, and sustainability. These associations and a host of other factors have made it one of the most widely used building materials globally in just one century. Take this free AIA/CES course from Building Design+Construction and earn 1.0 AIA learning unit.
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Green Building
27. Next-Generation Green Roofs Sprout up in New York New York is not particularly known for its green roofs, but two recent projects may put the Big Apple on the map. In spring 2010, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts will debut one of the nation's first fully walkable green roofs. Located across from the Juilliard School in Lincoln Center's North Plaza, Illumination Lawn will consist ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Pioneer Courthouse: Shaking up the court
In the days when three-quarters of America was a wild, lawless no-man's land, Pioneer Courthouse in Portland, Ore., stood out as a symbol of justice and national unity. The oldest surviving federal structure in the Pacific Northwest and the second-oldest courthouse west of the Mississippi, Pioneer Courthouse was designed in 1875 by Alfred Mullett, the Supervising Architect of the Treasury.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gold Award: Eisenhower Theater, Washington, D.C.
The Eisenhower Theater in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., opened in 1971. By the turn of the century, after three-plus decades of heavy use, the 1,142-seat box-within-a-box playhouse on the Potomac was starting to show its age. Poor lighting and tired, worn finishes created a gloomy atmosphere.
| Aug 11, 2010
Giants 300 University Report
University construction spending is 13% higher than a year ago—mostly for residence halls and infrastructure on public campuses—and is expected to slip less than 5% over the next two years. However, the value of starts dropped about 10% in recent months and will not return to the 2007–08 peak for about two years.
