CREATING A GLARE-FREE, SEAMLESS, AND SECURE BUILDING ENVELOPE FOR A SCHOOL BUILDING

© Bill Lemke

Project: Eagle Academy
Location: Washington, D.C.
Architect: Shinberd Levinas Architectural Design, Maryland
General Contractor: The Whiting Turner Contracting Company

The Project: As part of the Eagle Academy campus, the Eagle Center is the first early childhood public charter school in Washington, D.C. The owners were seeking an intellectually stimulating, sustainable environment that resembled their previous castle-like building but to accommodate more than 900 students.

The Design Challenge: For the new 27,000-square-foot facility located in the South East side of Washington D.C., security was a big concern. Glass windows are a common target of vandalism in schools, but there is still a need to provide daylight into the building. Further, the building owner set LEED Silver as the minimum design standard, meaning energy efficiency, daylight, and views were important considerations in the design.

The Design Solution: Specifying 13,000 square feet of a two-panel translucent daylighting system was the preferred solution. Architect Carlos Talero of Shinberg Levinas Architectural Design selected a double-panel translucent system for the school facade. He says, “We picked a system that would give them the daylight they wanted without having to use windows. It provides an interesting effect inside, durable material, and a great aesthetic.” Regarding the security concern, he adds, “The school is in a zone that would be prone to some kind of vandalism. If they have a problem with it, panels can be removed one at a time.”

To achieve the desired look, the architect worked closely with the manufacturer to create the totally custom, seamless glazed look without any exposed aluminum connectors. This includes a bicolored design, alternating 27-feet-tall blue (Eagle Academy’s color) and white panels on the inside, and outside panels that are matte finished for enhanced light diffusion and aesthetics. (The matte finish was used on the exterior side to prevent reflection from outdoor light sources.) The final system is constructed of two independent translucent insulated panels, joined by a mechanically interlocking structure that eliminates the need for vulnerable wet seals and adhesives. It was the only daylight system found to span as long as 12 feet between structural supports.

The two-panel system also provides superior building envelope protection with an advanced removable skin technology (RST) that allows the exterior panel to be replaced if needed. From an energy conservation perspective, the panels provided The Eagle Center with an NFRC verified U-factor of 0.22 and 100 percent haze. With the goal of achieving LEED Silver, the panels are just one of the many energy-saving measures taken at The Eagle Center. “You get a lot of your daylighting points fulfilled without the negative glare using the translucent system,” says Talero. “In the gym, they almost never use the metal halide light fixtures. When it’s bright and sunny out, you don’t notice the lights are off.”

The Results: “We’ve had some days with heavy winds, and I’ve walked into the gym to see if I can feel anything, but the panels are air tight,” says John Johnson, director of security/facilities at Eagle Academy. “We haven’t had any water issues at all—no leaks, nothing.”

NONPROFIT COMMUNITY ART STUDIO BECOMES ITS OWN WORK OF ART WITH TRANSLUCENT DAYLIGHTING PANELS

© Keith Isaacs

Project: Art For Art’s Sake (AFAS)
Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Architect: STITCH Design Shop
General Contractor: Frank L. Blum Construction Co.

The Project: Designed to be an economic catalyst for neighborhood growth, the 14,500-square-foot Art for Art’s Sake (AFAS) building features two galleries, an art center for community education, artist studios for rent, an AFAS board room, event space, leased office space, and a half-acre outdoor sculpture garden on the building’s front lawn. Together, the unique campus provides a new indoor/outdoor venue for the city, furthering the nonprofit AFAS mission to “build, educate, and celebrate community through art.”

The Design Challenge: For local architects STITCH Design Shop, creating a new facility for artists in a dilapidated section of downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was a tall order. A city known for its creative expression needed something unique. “We knew it had to be something fresh and bold for Winston-Salem, the City of Arts and Innovation,” says Adam Sebastian, AIA, architect, STITCH Design Shop. “Instead of lighting up the building or other cliché things designers do, we searched and searched for something to make the building be the light.

The Inspiration: While searching for inspiration during the AFAS preliminary design phase, STITCH Design Shop came across The Eagle Academy, a public charter preschool in Washington, D.C., clad almost completely in 13,000 square feet of a two-panel translucent facade system. “We asked ourselves: How can we make the building glow and complement the sculpture park outside, while also making it the diffused light source for artists and functions taking place inside the building?” says Sebastian. “When we saw The Eagle Academy, it had such a richness to it; we knew the same system would create a diffused light on the interior to meet our requirements.”

Like designers of the LEED Silver Eagle Academy, STITCH Design Shop was looking for a facade material that would promote energy savings and minimize the use of artificial light inside the artist’s studios during daylight hours. With an existing energy model in hand, STITCH knew what type of exterior panel performance it needed. But, could the two-panel translucent system meet the challenge? Working with system manufacturers, STITCH found that it could.

The Design Solution: STITCH Design Shop wanted to create “an illuminated cube sitting on top of a glass box,” says Sebastian. By cladding the building with 4,860 square feet of two-panel systems in ice white matte color with a U-factor of 0.26, it met the energy performance needs and desired look. “One of the biggest things for us was that the translucent two-panel system allowed us to get the levels where we needed them to be to meet the energy model,” explains Sebastian. “This building could have been all glass, but it wouldn’t have had the uniqueness or the creative quality that we wanted it to have. For us, the translucent system was the perfect material.” In presenting this design concept to the client, Sebastian points out, “The system offered a look we were attracted to, and we were able to pitch it to the owner as a complete envelope system that would serve the function of being a light source day and night.”

The Results: The building opened in 2017 and is already experiencing benefits from the translucent panels. The art center and studios rarely turn on their interior lights—even on cloudy days. Instead, they rely on diffused light streaming in through the translucent facade system. Until nightfall, that is, when the interior illuminates the panels from the inside out. Sebastian says, “Artists work all hours of the night. So, when they’re in their studios late, up close to the translucent wall, you actually see their silhouette. The panels transfer their silhouette to the outside adding a real dynamic, alive feeling. It has allowed us to create another creative element like the park. It really feels like the park and the building are one and the same.”

The ultimate seal of approval, though, came when STITCH Design Shop leased the office space on the top floor of AFAS—i.e., it became its client’s tenant. “To be in a building that you designed overlooking a park that you designed—it’s become our calling card. It speaks to the type of design we do,” says Sebastian. “At their root, they’re artists, and at our root as architects, we are artists of the vertical space. To be partners with one of our clients in their building is a great showcase of our work.”

MAINTAINING UNIFORM DAYLIGHT WHILE MINIMIZING GLARE FOR COMPETING ATHLETES

© Ema Peter

Project: Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre
Location: Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Architect: HCMA Architecture + Design
Daylighting Facade Size: 12,700 square feet

The Project: A training facility and key venue for regional and national competitions, the 94,180-square-foot Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre in Surrey, British Columbia, was designed to accommodate world class athletic performance in every way. Grandview features a 10-lane, 50-meter Olympic size pool with diving platform, a family leisure pool and a competitive main pool with spectator seats for 900 that the City hopes will draw major national and international swim competitions.

The Design Challenge: Melissa Higgs, AIBC, MRAIC, associate architect, HCMA Architecture + Design, describes the project requirements this way: “It was important that the activity within the pool be visible from the exterior and provide bright but controlled levels of natural light—particularly for the lap pool, which will be FINA certified and expected to host a variety of competitive events.” This meant that the facility also needed to minimize glare, allowing the athletes to focus solely on their training.

The Design Solution: The architects developed a facade design that incorporated a glass view zone at the base of the building plus an upper translucent daylighting zone. This combined system helps the iconic civil building maintain a stream of soft, natural, and uniform daylight throughout the three large pool areas of the center. Minimizing glare while simultaneously moving daylight far into the space, the system also contributes to the project’s quest for LEED certification. “The selected system allows for filtered natural light above the vision glass, allowing us to balance the desire for views into and out of the natatorium and the deck level while controlling direct sunlight above,” says Higgs. “We worked with the manufacturer on light transmission and R-values to achieve the balance we required from the perspective of both performance and economic requirements.” The final solution achieved a U-factor of 0.23 (R-value of 4.35), which is exemplary for a glazing system.

The Result: Completed in March 2016, the $55-million project features 12,700 square feet of a translucent, energy-efficient two-panel system that has earned the center its “Grandview” name.