Easing Minds and Boosting Facade Performance

Envelope design strategies use natural look to promote health and enhance sustainability

Sponsored by Longboard® Products a Division of Mayne Coatings Corp. | C.C. Sullivan

This CE Center article is no longer eligible for receiving credits.

PRODUCTIVITY AND WELL-BEING, NATURALLY

An entire city that appears to be clad entirely in wood is a compelling image indeed, and recent architectural applications of real timbers, veneers, and woodgrain patterning suggest that this vision is completely achievable today. The next question to arise might be, “Why would that be the preferred image for a city, a campus, or even a house?”

One of the strongest arguments for the incorporation of natural-looking wood elements in the built environment is their positive effect on productivity and overall well-being, says Longboard’s Dunkley. She points to some landmark studies conducted by leaders in EBD and biophilic design to highlight the benefits, which have been discussed widely at recent industry events. First cited by many practitioners is the seminal 2008 collection edited by Kellert along with Judith H. Heerwagen, a psychologist and noted expert on the evolutionary basis of environmental aesthetics, as well as Yale researcher Martin L. Mador. The book, Biophilic Design: The Theory, Science and Practice of Bringing Buildings to Life, charts a course for applying biophilic design at any scale to “connect people with nature and provide comfortable and productive places for people” to live, work, and study.

Specific evidence shows how architecture connected to nature and with plentiful sunlight, fresh air, and other restorative elements can deliver proven advantages in terms of human health, childhood development, health care, and other key aspects of life. Kellert’s aim is to show how “buildings that echo the environment in which the human species evolved” allow all people to “learn better, work more comfortably, and recuperate more successfully.” These are not merely qualitative improvements; measures of enhanced worker productivity and retention as well as reduced student absenteeism and even sick days are tied to increases in daylight, outdoor views of trees or landscapes, water features, and the use of natural materials.

In this way, the idea of sustainable is expanded beyond a reduction in environmental impact to encompass a raft of general guidelines that make architecture increasingly beneficial to humanity. The applications run the gamut from the potentially expensive to various low-cost, low-impact strategies, many of which stimulate the human brain, strengthening neural networks. “Studies have shown that viewing an attractive complex fractal pattern can trigger the part of the cerebellum that makes a person want to reach out and connect,” according to Lorraine Francis, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, regional director of hospitality interiors at Gensler. She adds that while it seems paradoxical, by helping boost the brain’s production of melatonin during the day, exposure to daylighting actually helps people sleep better at night. Other ecological aspects can elevate mood, reduce mental fatigue, and even minimize stress levels, she explains.

The reasons some techniques succeed in decreasing stress are not fully understood, but evidence points to the kinds of effects Francis describes. Outdoor views of trees, for example, generally reduce work-related stress and increase job satisfaction, according to a 2007 study published by the Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research.⁶ In another large-scale research effort, a team recorded levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, in adults living in various urban and suburban locations. The findings showed that those living near large green spaces actually had lower cortisol levels, according to a summary in the publication Landscape and Urban Planning.⁷ To tap into this effect, many architects are incorporating green walls and partitions with planters in their own design studios, such as at the London office of HOK.

Are these effects worth exploring today? Probably so, say many experts in psychology and other social sciences. In a sample of 25,000 full-time workers in North America, high levels of stress were reported by well more than half—about 57 percent—according to a recent study by Carleton University and Western University, both in Ontario, Canada. “Stress levels have gone up and life satisfaction has gone down,’’ summarized Carleton’s Dr. Linda Duxbury, one of the researchers, pointing to smartphone use, childcare, and eldercare as a few reasons that worker well-being is suffering.

Adding natural elements to the designs of buildings can be a cost-effective and ameliorative antidote for at least some portion of these stressors. Moreover, it is easy to argue that the strides taken in green building easily offset any incremental costs of adding natural ingredients and imagery into today’s architecture. According to Herman Miller, “Combine LEED metrics with essential biophilic elements, some argue, and you achieve a lasting sustainability, a built environment that uses less energy even as it energizes the people who use it.”

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF WOOD-LOOK ALUMINUM

In fact, wood colors and graining can be incorporated into most building typologies without any cost premium if the task is approached creatively and analytically. One of the solutions is the use of today’s mass-customized and photorealistic printing methods to add woodgrain patterns and other nature motifs to various kinds of substrates. Some architects may contend that real stone, leaves, and wood are better than their mere imagery, which in some ways is a defensible position. Others may question the benefits of natural-appearing products actually made with sublimation processes and powder-coat finishes. Yet the analysis by means of LCA as well as a defined return on investment (ROI) suggests otherwise.

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Woodgrain aluminum tubes in a light cherry finish are used for a privacy screen at a terrace restaurant.

The key is to evaluate the cost-benefit impacts of using low-maintenance metal cladding systems with a woodgrain finish in terms of first costs, long-term maintenance, and payback on human factors. One LCA study of cladding by the University of Tennessee’s Center for Clean Products compared aluminum composite panel envelopes with brick, granite, limestone, and precast concrete. Funded by the Natural Stone Council, the report stated that “aluminum is well suited to exterior building applications due to its inherent resistance to corrosion.” It also noted that a “broad span of lengths and widths are available to meet project specifications.” More to the point, the study notes that “aluminum cladding rarely requires maintenance,” and that panels systems are “easy to repair and replace as needed,” and that the cladding itself may last for up to 50 years, citing an IAI study from 2009, although the United Kingdom-based Metal Cladding and Roofing Manufacturers Association (MCMRA) studies show that coatings may not last as long in terms of maintaining aesthetics.⁸

Steven Morris Cross Architect combined wood-patterned aluminum panels with glass spans, stone cladding, and 1,500 square feet of aluminum siding and soffit panels in a light cherry finish

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For a home surrounded by natural beauty, Steven Morris Cross Architect combined wood-patterned aluminum panels with glass spans, stone cladding, and 1,500 square feet of aluminum siding and soffit panels in a light cherry finish.

Low maintenance—along with the benefits of biophilia—was one of the reasons that architectural designer Steven Morris Cross Architects, Langley, British Columbia, elected to specify wood-patterned aluminum panels for Cultus Lake Home, a modern lake house on Lindell Beach, a town in the province surrounded by mountains, forests, and bodies of water. The exterior includes glass spans, stone cladding, and 1,500 square feet of 4-inch V-groove aluminum siding and soffit panels in a light cherry finish wood grain. “The home was designed to be low/no maintenance, with a strong connection to the surrounding elements,” Cross says. “The client and I wanted to use the durable aluminum product from the very beginning,” in part because of their inspiration from a nearby shingled bungalow.

The 30-foot-tall wood-look planes “effortlessly nestle against the nearby trees, while directing the onlooker’s attention to the fresh water lake and surrounding mountains,” says Cross. “The house and siding look great throughout all seasons, and the client doesn’t worry about staining or painting,” he notes, adding that he has since used the product on numerous commercial, institutional, and multifamily residences. “We use it vertically and horizontally on walls, and frequently for soffits,” says Cross. “I’ve even used it as a ceiling in a client’s natatorium.” For this house and the other projects, Cross notes that a natural, psychologically beneficial wood appearance is possible with aluminum products that eliminate the worry about regular maintenance associated with real wood.

In terms of first costs, long-term maintenance, and payback on human factors, Cross—and a growing cohort of leading architects—see wood-patterned aluminum as a valuable step toward a more humanizing, calming, and nature-inspired sustainable architecture.

As Kellert has famously declared, “Human dependence on nature that extends far beyond the simple issues of material and physical sustenance to encompass as well the human craving for aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive, and even spiritual meaning and satisfaction.”

C.C. Sullivan formerly was chief editor of an architectural magazine and his marketing communications agency, C.C. Sullivan, specializes in architecture and construction.

END NOTES

Longboard – a division of Mayne Coatings Corp. Mayne Coatings Corp. is best known as the manufacturer of Longboard Products. The company focuses on continually exceeding environmental standards and providing premium architectural products for sustainable design. www.longboardproducts.com

The debate continues: Hard modern versus soft modern. Humanizing architecture or a futuristic vision. Increasingly, architects are opting for building designs that heal, addressing today’s predominant social issues. Many see a chance to help people feel better about themselves and their places, to encourage a greater sense of community, and even to enhance psychological well-being. Behind the movement are recently established but confirmed areas of study, such as evidence-based design (EBD) to improve health outcomes, applications of biophilia to exploit human predilections for nature, and daylight as a therapeutic design element.

One outgrowth of this trend has been the conclusion among many architects that people respond positively to the look and feel of natural materials, such as wood finishes, patinated metals, and the patterns in cut stone, among others. As this course demonstrates, new data and support for this tendency can justify the application of natural-looking, wood-finish elements in the built environment that positively impact the overall well-being of the end-user population—and, in some cases, even boost productivity and enjoyment. In particular, new aluminum facade cladding systems can improve such outcomes, while also boosting durability and sustainability. They also can have an ameliorative effect in settings that tend to produce anxiety in many people.

Is anxiety really an issue that architects should consider in their work? Certainly some architectural settings cause unease or nervousness: hospitals, police stations, and airports, for example, as well as immigration centers, high schools, office settings, and even facilities for vehicle emissions testing. Some segment of the population experiences angst merely by walking into a shopping center. As Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek said: “There is a feeling of exposure and, at the same time, depersonalization.”

Photo courtesy of Longboard – A division of Mayne Coatings Corp./Dale Klippenstein

Woodgrain aluminum soffit and siding in a walnut finish add warmth and echo the patterns of nature, creating a positive environment for occupants.

Clinical findings support designers’ hunches about end-user emotions. Anecdotal evidence and some studies point to general stressors in U.S. society, and clinically diagnosed anxiety is surprisingly prevalent. According to the expert Jonathan Berent, LCSW, ACSW, “It is estimated that one in eight people suffer from social anxiety,” which he calls “a universal problem that affects people of all ages, genders, cultures, religions, and socioeconomic strata.” Berent, who consults on stress management to groups like NBC, Bloomingdales, and the United Federation of Teachers, notes that behind depression and substance abuse, social anxiety is the third most common disorder affecting Western cultures.¹

In addition to social phobia, the National Institute of Mental Health lists two other broad categories of anxiety: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), which affects about 7 million Americans, and panic disorder, a condition affecting about 6 million American adults that is twice as common in women as men. Berent calls social anxiety “a disease of resistance” related to our “increasingly competitive and technological society.”

Architecture has responded in astounding ways to “how phobias and anxiety came to be seen as the mental condition of modern life,” wrote Anthony Vidler, the architecture dean at the Cooper Union in New York City, about 15 years ago in the book Warped Space. Today’s neuroses are rooted in the late 19th century emergence of agoraphobia, for example, and later following World War I with such conditions as shell shock, related to today’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In his book—with the subtitle “Art, Architecture, and Anxiety in Modern Culture”—Vidler explained how these mental conditions led to forms of “spatial warping” as seen in the architecture of Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind, Coop Himmelblau, and Morphosis.²

NURTURING ENVIRONMENTS

The warping of the deconstructivist architects expressed the upending of society, but it has done little to calm our jangled nerves. More recently, the overwhelming reaction to anxiety has been not to express it, but rather to attempt to gently push against it, and to use materials, forms, and colors that mollify and subdue enduring mental stressors as they calm and nurture occupants. As EBD interiors expert Roslyn Cama said in a Herman Miller study, “In my world of health-care design, the goal first and foremost is to reduce stress.” Applied to a design task, she asks clients to imagine places where their anxiety is reduced, and “the elements of that environment, the features that contribute to their calm, their sense of well-being.”

In about 95 percent of the cases, says Cama, people visualize an outdoor space.³

This raises one reason that, even in our millennial era of industrialized and synthetic materials, architects tend toward using wood materials and imagery. The natural color, graining, and associations with the outdoors contribute to powerful psychological drivers. “Architects are looking for ways to apply the profession’s longstanding appreciation for natural-looking and wood-patterned materials to positively affect, for example, workplace performance,” says Christi Dunkley, an executive with manufacturer Longboard who has conducted market studies related to anxiety and building-product choice. “We’re seeing more interest in how natural-looking metal cladding systems can make high-anxiety public spaces more comfortable and inviting.”

Could the use of wood finish and other sensory attributes actually affect individual comfort and organizational output? Yes, says a lifetime of work by experts, such as noted health-care architect D. Kirk Hamilton, FAIA, FACHA, founding principal of WHR Architects and a professor at Texas A&M University. Citing Hamilton’s work, the landscape architect Jerry Smith, ASLA, LEED AP, wrote in a position paper for the EBD leadership group The Center for Health Design, “If implemented accordingly, these projects should result in demonstrated improvements in the organization’s clinical outcomes, economic performance, productivity, customer satisfaction, and cultural measures.”

BOOST PERFORMANCE, REDUCE ANXIETY

One of the challenges of incorporating wood into the mix, Dunkley adds, is an increased focus on high performance, using today’s expansive definition that encompasses sustainability, energy efficiency, resiliency, occupant wellness, and low maintenance needs, among other attributes. Yet some architectural solutions have found a way to serve both needs with creative design ideas and rigorous specifications.

John Paul II Pastoral Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia

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Natural imagery and materials have been shown to reduce stress in building occupants, which benefits the administrators and residents at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia.

For example, for a mixed-use facility for a Campus of Care called the John Paul II Pastoral Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Burnaby, British Columbia-based firm John Clark Architect Inc. sought to connect the building image to the outdoors in ways both explicit and subtle. The facade cladding was envisaged with the color and grain of light cherry, selected because its “red tones best contrasted with the adjacent Douglas fir and yew trees,” says principal John Clark. The wood aesthetic would also serve as a hallmark of the John Paul II center’s visual branding, and just as critically connect the architecture to its region and place. The second of five phases for the Campus of Care, it is a four-story building with administrative offices, an auditorium, chancery, chapel, 10 senior housing units, and an underground parking deck. The architect specified woodgrained aluminum siding material because of its “aesthetic compatibility to wood finish and noncombustible designation,” he says, adding that codes do not permit the use of wood soffit for a noncombustible type.

The $18 million facility was conceived for efficiency and sustainability, yet it was also focused on creating a harmonious, warm, and serene location for health-care services. “This small woodland contributes to the creation of a quiet and peaceful environment separate from the office functions and use,” according to the owner, the Archdiocese of Vancouver. “With paths connecting to the wellness walkway, this quiet oasis will be accessible to the occupants and visitors.” For optimal patient outcomes, the client required a LEED Gold-certified building fully accessible by wheelchair and a fragrance-free space.

Photo courtesy of Longboard – A division of Mayne Coatings Corp.

Designed by John Clark Architect, the John Paul II Pastoral Centre employs a woodgrain aluminum soffit and cladding in 6-inch, V-groove panels.

With these aims in mind, the architects compared facade systems, including aluminum composite, cementitious plank, and steel cladding. Ultimately the design included metal cladding and 10,000 square feet of 6-inch, V-groove aluminum siding and soffit in the light cherry woodgrained pattern. Architect John Clark notes that the wood-look exterior panels resist shrinkage and staining, making them a durable and resilient selection. With its hidden fastening system, Clark says, the system is almost impossible to distinguish from a real wood rainscreen. Most important, he explains, “The scale and color of the 6-inch plank material relative to the volume of the wall areas and feature elements informs and strengthens the relationship of the forested southwest edge of the property, its tall trees and adjacency to the residential neighborhood, and the neighboring health-care facilities.”

The site’s steep grade changes and a “small woodland”—a stand of mature evergreen trees wrapping its southwest corner—“contribute to the creation of a quiet and peaceful environment separate from the office functions and use,” according to the Archdiocese of Vancouver. In this way, the facility is essential to its goal to “better suit the needs of the elderly” and an integral part of the renewal and redevelopment of the health care provider’s residential care facilities.

MATERIAL CONNECTION WITH NATURE

Two key lessons stand behind this case study: first, the use of wood patterning and grain is a way to deploy what sustainability consultant Terrapin calls “natural analogues” for biophilic design. In its 2014 research paper “14 Patterns of Biophilic Design,” Terrapin describes three types of natural analogues: biomorphic forms and patterns; material connection with nature; and complexity and order. The connection with nature can include woodgrains as accent details, woodwork, wood facade materials, and timber structures, among others.

The goal for material connection with nature, write Terrapin’s William Browning, Hon. AIA, and Catherine Ryan, along with Joseph Clancy of Pegasus Planning Group Ltd., “is to explore the characteristics and quantities of natural materials optimal for engendering positive cognitive or physiological responses.” They cite the multiple “layers of information” in materials that enhance this connection, “such as learned knowledge about the material, familiar textures, or nested fractals that occur within a stone or wood grain pattern.”⁴

The second lesson from the John Paul II Pastoral Centre is the significance of facade cladding systems in overall building design, durability, and sustainability. For example, wood-look metal claddings are lightweight and resilient, meaning they can be exposed to the elements for many years, while also reducing the dead load from the cladding system, potentially reducing the size of structural members, while still effectively protecting the structure. The wood-look aluminum panels for soffit and siding are tested to be noncombustible, maintenance free, 100 percent recyclable, and resistant to warping, rotting, and splitting. (The architect Clark considers the fade-resistant aluminum cladding to be a zero-maintenance selection, noting the product is warrantied for 15 years for the factory-applied finish.) In terms of low-emitting materials, the high-performance powder coating is 100 percent free of VOCs. These qualities deliver building owners all the aesthetic aspects of real wood, yet with a generally more durable facade system.

Properly maintained, woodgrain aluminum can last 40 years or more, according to the association of commercial and residential property inspectors, InterNACHI, which publishes an estimated life-cycle chart. With life-cycle assessment (LCA) a more prominent aspect of LEED certifications, more architects are reviewing independent data on building systems.

The structural performance of the fastening clips has been studied and verified by the engineering firm Morrison Hershfield. In addition, another recent study by Morrison Hershfield, released in early 2014, shows that the sub-girt system cladding clips have been optimized for thermal performance by reducing thermal bridging, in which unwanted heat gain or loss are carried by metal elements through the insulated enclosure plane. As with other opaque panels, the coated aluminum materials can help reduce the window-to-wall ratio (WWR), increasing thermal resistance (R-values) and reducing overall enclosure U-factor, the measure of rate of heat loss.

For these and other reasons, wood-look exterior cladding systems can contribute to several LEED credits needed for the various U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) certification programs. With fully recyclable content, aluminum building products count toward Materials and Resources (MR) credits. The cladding materials can be used for green building applications indoors as well, as the finished metals are benign and give off zero emissions, contributing to Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ) credits. The manufacturing process, which utilizes a sublimation powder coating process, does not utilize any volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or the toxic heavy metal chromium VI (also known as hexavalent chromium, which the International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed as a carcinogen). This element is typically used to produce chromed metal finishes.

In addition, for the important LEED credit for Optimized Energy Performance, which offers the most points toward certifications, wood-patterned aluminum systems can contribute to effective designs. The backframing allows for continuous exterior insulation, shown to be 40 percent more effective than interior insulation assemblies, according to the Morrison Hershfield report on the thermal performance of the sub-girt system’s fastening clips. This type of assembly with external insulation also helps provide a thermally comfortable interior environment, with fewer cold spots or hot spots.

SHOPPING FOR COMFORT

With increased interest in not only physical comforts but also psychological comforts for building occupants, many architects are assisting their clients in “humanizing” their architectural projects in a variety of ways, a notion widely ascribed in the modern era to a 1940 essay by Alvar Aalto, “The Humanizing of Architecture.”⁵

Pemberton Plaza shopping center in North Vancouver, British Columbia

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In a unique application, B+H Architects specified a woodgrained system of aluminum tubes to create a privacy screen for Pemberton Plaza, a shopping center in North Vancouver, British Columbia.

Photo courtesy of Longboard – A division of Mayne Coatings Corp.

The wood-look aluminum soffit for Pemberton Plaza is rendered in a light cherry finish produced with a sublimation powder-coat process.

Photo courtesy of Longboard – A division of Mayne Coatings Corp.

The Towson Commons project in downtown Towson, Maryland, presents a friendly and naturalistic facade designed by BCT Architects with a system of woodgrain aluminum tubes in a dark cherry pattern.

Today, this idea pervades designs for cities, campuses, and large-scale environments. As the 2015 AIA Gold Medal honoree Moshe Safdie, FAIA, said in his acceptance speech in Atlanta, “Humanizing megascale is the single most urgent task that awaits us in the decades to come.” He added, “I have a dream of high-rise cities transformed, penetrated by light and sun, with plant life and gardens on land and sky.” The use of sunlight and biophilic elements are among the tools to humanize places, alongside recognizable and often “residential” elements in unexpected ways. A growing cadre of architects, notably including New York City-based John Cetra, AIA, have focused these efforts on “the notion of home,” instilling residential comforts, reassurances, and amenities in varied projects ranging from schools and houses of worship to hospitality settings and office buildings.

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For a shopping mall in Moline, Illinois, the architect FRCH conceived a major renovation, adding new access points and signage, better lighting, parking lot resurfacing, and more ample landscaping. The signage, in woodgrain aluminum, echoes the facade materials.

These humanizing trends can be seen in a recent project by owners of large shopping malls. Many malls are struggling to attract crowds in the face of increased online commerce and consumer unease with some public retail settings, where relatively isolated reports of harassment, vandalism, and Black Friday crowd violence have garnered visibility through social media and traditional news coverage. The Santa Monica, California-based owner-developer Macerich Company, for example, has been touting its redevelopment of retail properties with more “comfortable and convenient” amenities, including “seating vignettes” with more outlets for recharging handheld devices. The campaign has increased visitor turnout at several locations, including another property in Tysons Corner, Va., where the developer recently undertook a “large-scale vertical densification” project, adding new floors to that Virginia mixed-use complex.

In a related twist, Macerich is also downsizing some properties. At a 40-year-old center, the SouthPark Mall in Moline, Illinois, the company has demolished about one-quarter of its million-square-foot building, eliminating a food court and Sears store that were built in 1990. The plans included a new access point and entry to the mall, which would alleviate congestion at its current access. Other people-friendly upgrades included new signage, better lighting, parking lot resurfacing, and more ample landscaping.

Tapped to enhance the public image and functionality of a more human-scaled, shopper-friendly mall experience, the firm FRCH Worldwide proposed a facade renovation with an unexpected yet welcoming touch of woodgrain—something more associated with big-box outdoor retailers and lodge-style malls in the Rockies. “Our design concept was to articulate the facade with wood treatment” to add visual warmth, says Jennifer Eng, a senior designer with the Cincinnati-based architecture, interiors, and branding firm. With this in mind, the project architects compared woodgrained aluminum siding with two ventilated facade systems: one clad in porcelain tile and the other with composite panels.

According to Eng, the firm compared the three products side-by-side for durability, product strength, availability, lead time, pricing, and compatibility with the existing conditions. The firm had prior experience with aluminum siding on projects with similar aesthetic and budgetary requirements. “The strength of the aluminum siding was appealing in a retail environment where vandalism may occur,” says Eng. “With the siding, there was very little chance for denting or warping.” The manufacturer also offered repair and maintenance methods that worked well for the facility managers. Other benefits were critical to the timely completion of the redevelopment. “The siding product had easier installation, less weight loading added to the existing structure, and proven examples in several multi-weather areas,” says Eng. “Overall, the client’s feedback was positive regarding the warm wood appearance of the product.”

According to Lew Steinbrecher, Moline’s city administrator, SouthPark Mall’s four anchor tenants “are committed to stay and excited about what’s happening,” noting the numerous stores that had remodeled or developed “new store prototypes.” Traffic to the mall is up, and anecdotal evidence suggests this major refresh is highly appealing to Moline-area consumers.

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The look of wood offers a friendly face for educational facilities and has proven, subtle effects related to biophilia, helping calm students and restore their energy and well-being. Examples include the Ecole des Aventuriers in Sherbrooke, Quebec, designed by the firm Espace Vital Architecture.

WHY HUMANS LIKE WOOD

The wood-look exterior sends an overt message to the shopping public: we are different now; come in and see. But the use of wood also carries proven latent effects, say many experts in architecture, biophilia, and psychology. “Studies suggest that natural elements in built environments can restore energy and well-being,” according to Jim Guffey, principal of Kansas-based specialty wood rainscreen fabricator Wood Haven Inc., including those showing “their positive effect on the intelligence and cognition of school-age children, the health of the elderly, and generally reductions in stress and anger.”

Much of the research is rooted in the biophilia hypothesis, posited by Edward O. Wilson in his 1984 book Biophilia to describe humans’ “urge to affiliate with other forms of life.” In 2002, Wilson’s colleague and co-author Stephen R. Kellert, a social ecology professor at Yale, collaborated with University of Washington psychology expert Peter H. Kahn Jr. on the influential book Children and Nature. Drawing on various professional disciplines, the work reveals the evolutionary underpinnings of how nature affects childhood, and why a “weakened childhood experience of nature in modern society” has profound educational and political consequences.

With this in mind, a number of architects have incorporated more natural materials and figurative imagery into schools, university buildings, and cultural and civic facilities for end-users of all ages. Examples include the wood-paneled museums and music hall interiors by Snøhetta, the K-12 schools in Connecticut and Yale University laboratory designs by firm Svigals + Partners, and college residences by San Diego’s Carrier Johnson + CULTURE, such as the LEED Platinum complex at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. Wood finishes—and, in rare cases, engineered structural timber—are increasingly seen as features of prominent urban architecture, even including tall buildings. In these projects, frequently a wood-look product carries the theme in exterior and high-floor applications.

Photo courtesy of Chris Dikeakos Architects Inc. and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF)

For the new Broadway and Pacific mixed-use tower in San Diego by the firm KPF and Chris Dikeakos Architects, a back-framed aluminum wall system comprises 6-inch-wide, V-groove aluminum panels in a light ash finish.

In San Diego, for example, the design for the new Broadway and Pacific mixed-use development by the firm KPF and Chris Dikeakos Architects, Inc. employs a back-framed aluminum wall system for a required high-performance architectural application. The signature skyscraper, which broke ground last year, is clad in 39,000 square feet of 6-inch-wide, V-groove aluminum panels and soffit material in a light ash finish. An integral, complete back-framing system provides for continuous insulation (CI) as well as structural connections to the building structure. “The product looks like real wood slats, and the selection of widths and application for both color and grain choices was very good, and the design for all the major soffits on the project called for ‘woodlike’ slats that are reminiscent of cedar or fir soffits,” says architect Mike Alivojvodic, AIBC, MRAIC, a principal at the firm. He adds that the materials were specified to achieve the look of a wood soffit material, while meeting the stringent state and local code requirements for fire ratings and wind suction loads.

For these large-scale buildings and high-rise applications, the use of wood provides a compelling and humanizing gesture for the city, as Safdie might say, yet it requires a building method compatible with typical curtain wall and panelized facade techniques. For the Broadway and Pacific project, the cladding employs a thermally broken aluminum T-clip and extruded aluminum sub-girts for attaching the woodgrained rainscreen cladding systems to the primary walls. The aluminum T-clips connect directly to the primary wall to match the framing dimensions or as needed to match typical CI products, or both. With a thermal break to prevent heat loss or gain, the T-clips project horizontally to clear the insulation depth and attach to sub-girts running vertically that carry the aluminum cladding by means of clips. Clip spacing varies, but typically they are attached using two screws, with a third screw attaching the sub-girt to each clip.

Following its testing of a similar system with a dead load of 1.5 pounds per square foot., Morrison Hershfield concluded that the wood-finished aluminum system is appropriately designed for noncombustible high-rise building envelopes. Thus, the wood-look skyscraper is not only possible, but it also offers a high-performance option for more architects to consider. The back-framing system can be used for any primary wall systems, including light-gauge steel, masonry, and concrete. The systems resist wind loads of up to 70 pounds per square foot, according to Morrison Hershfield’s engineers, and they also meet the prescriptive requirements of the energy code ASHRAE 90.1 – 2007/2010 for all climate zones when using continuous insulation.

“The finished aluminum products achieve this without having to worry about regular maintenance that is associated with real wood,” adds Alivojvodic, listing various reasons that the architects selected a relatively new entrant in the building products marketplace. “The back framing system is key to making the product work in this design as it provided for a clip-on installation without seeing gaps or surface-mounting elements like the other products considered.” Summarizing, Alivojvodic has said that “aside from the look being achieved, the product met fire regulations, it can be engineered to deal with wind loading issues, and the finished product allows for a flush installation without the need for surface attachments.”

Photo courtesy of Longboard – A division of Mayne Coatings Corp.

A house with stone and woodgrain siding can have positive effects on the occupants because the materials help connect people with nature and provide comfortable and productive places, say experts in biophilic design.

PRODUCTIVITY AND WELL-BEING, NATURALLY

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF WOOD-LOOK ALUMINUM

Photo courtesy of Longboard – A division of Mayne Coatings Corp.

Woodgrain aluminum tubes in a light cherry finish are used for a privacy screen at a terrace restaurant.

Photo courtesy of Longboard – A division of Mayne Coatings Corp.

C.C. Sullivan formerly was chief editor of an architectural magazine and his marketing communications agency, C.C. Sullivan, specializes in architecture and construction.

END NOTES

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Describe how the incorporation of natural-looking wood elements in the built environment can have a positive impact on occupant productivity and overall well-being.
Identify key variables contributing to the significance of facade cladding systems in design, durability, and sustainability.
Explain how a building can positively affect workplace performance, and how natural-looking metal cladding systems can make anxiety-producing public spaces more comfortable and inviting.
Evaluate the cost-benefit impacts of using low-maintenance metal cladding systems with a woodgrain finish in terms of first costs, long-term maintenance, and payback on human factors.

1 AIA LU/HSW

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