Aesthetics in Designing With Metal Composite Material (MCM)  

MCM FOR BRANDING

Photos courtesy of AGI

The blue entry portal with a silver outline and lettering at every Chevrolet dealership worldwide is made from MCMs (left). Hyundai’s new branding design features bronze MCM “puzzle pieces” organized as shaped sky modules (right).

While different materials are used to create the colors and shapes that companies use to create branding designs and elements displayed in their facilities, metal composite material (MCM) panels are considered one of the best choices for a number of reasons.

For starters, MCM is a stiff, firm material that doesn’t bow, pillow, or oil can. Extremely flat, the material essential serves as an ideal canvas for colored, creative, and decorative designs. At the same time, MCMs can be rounded, folded, and bent into all types of shapes and angles, offering much more versatility than other materials.

Another benefit is the polyvinylidene fluoride coil coating systems used for MCMs ensure color consistency with 15- to 20-year warranties, as compared to paint, which only maintains its colors for a few years. This high-quality fluropolymer coating also protects against fading, cracking, chipping, peeling, and environmental stresses of acid rain and ultraviolet attack.

MCMs are particularly popular with branding elements designs for automotive, retail, financial services, healthcare, restaurants, arenas, and stadiums because of its colorfastness and ability to easily shaped and curved.

For example, the blue entry portal with a silver outline and lettering at every Chevrolet dealership worldwide is made from MCMs. The panels can be prefabricated in a plant; shipped in constructable unitized sections on flatbed trucks; and then then installed within a couple days of an order being placed. On the contrary, with stick-built construction, the process of installing a branding element with other materials can be much more invasive and time consuming.

For another leading automobile manufacturer, Hyundai, the company is in the process of changing its traditional silver and blue branding colors to bronze. Working with fabricators specializing in branding, a blushed metallic bronze FEVE clear coat was created for the aluminum composite material. The new branding design consists of puzzle pieces organized as shaped sky modules. Working with the bronze MCM pieces, it was easy to hem the edge and fold them over to create the desired shape.

If the branding team had selected a painted aluminum or metal sheet brushed with a metallic coating, this would have only offered a five- to seven-year warranty, whereas the MCMs will last far longer as an acceptable corporate identity.

As another example, Truist Bank recently redesigned its feature wall, teller area, ATM, and night deposit portal. The 10-foot-tall, purple MCM wall is designed with deep vertical reveals from the ceiling to the floor, every 4 feet. The material also surrounds the teller area with radius corners, creating a rich, contemporary, high-end look. Executing the level of precision and sophistication required by this design would not have been possible with other materials.

MCM FINS LEND SHADING, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, AND AESTHETICS TO CHICAGO RIVERFRONT CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS BUILDING

Photos courtesy of 3A Composites USA

Undulating MCM fins provide shading, energy efficiency, and aesthetics at C.H. Robinson’s new headquarters on the Chicago riverfront in Lincoln Park, Chicago.

A great example of the value that certified MCM fabricators bring to facade projects, logistics provider C.H. Robinson’s new headquarters on the Chicago riverfront in Lincoln Park features four horizontal strips of undulating metal composite (MCM) fins on a high-performance curtain wall. The panels provide shading, an energy-efficient building enclosure, and a great aesthetic.

As part of the Lincoln Yards revitalization development spearheaded by Sterling Bay, office, residential, hotel, entertainment, and retail space was added to the 70-acre property that the developer acquired in this former industrial area along the Chicago River. The four-story, 207,000-square-foot office building currently houses 1,000 employees, doubling the size of company’s previous office facility. The new site also features above- and below-grade parking, a 5,000-square-foot roof terrace, a 30-foot setback, and landscaped public park offering office employees and visitors expansive views of the water.

Designed by SOM, Jorge Rovira, AIA, an associate with the firm, relates how his team investigated a mix of high-performance materials to meet the developer’s LEED Gold certification objective and budget. “We knew we wanted to bring light deep inside the space─while maximizing sustainability by controlling daylight─to create a better workplace. We introduced the idea of large 'fins' that would be shaped to reduce glare inside and offer an opportunity to reduce the window-to-wall ratio and incorporate more surface for insulation,” he explains.

Ultimately, the undulating silver MCM fins were designed to emulate the flow of water and serve as a shading strategy, mitigating solar heat gain and reducing glare in the workspaces. The shape and size of each MCM was customized to optimize shading performance. At the same time, the design and fabrication of the panels was complex, as each panel in a single row is unique, from the depth of the panel to the nose, and the resulting shapes required a twist in each unit. Many building materials would have lacked the flexibility and pliability to support these unique shapes, but the MCM panels could handle the twists as well as the sharp corners required by the design.

For the project, two sheets of smooth .020-inch aluminum were thermally bonded to a solid, fire-retardant core in a 4 mm nominal thickness. Approximately 300 different panel shapes create the sunshade design on each of the building's four floors, with one identical pattern repeating on the second and fourth floors and another pattern repeating on the third floor and roof. The individually unique panels create the angled facade and contoured look of the fins. A total of 827 finished units, measuring approximately 5 feet wide by 6 feet tall, were shipped to the site for installation. “We wanted the brightness of silver and its reflection,” said Rovira. “When light hits the silver panels, it bounces back so that you can see the river reflected on all floors of the building. The sparkling reflections and water movement are very beautiful.”

MCM was an ideal choice for the project due to its flatness, formability, durability, and ease of fabrication. Another advantage of was cost effectiveness. In fact, by going with the MCM system, the project team saved money on material costs and was ultimately able to add a central atrium to bring more daylighting into the core with the money saved.

During the construction, the continuous aluminum curtain wall system was installed first, and then the sunshade units were attached to the curtain wall, with pins and pin supports integrated into the mullion system. With this sequencing, the project team was able to first enclose the building completely and make it weather tight, install the sunshades, and make final adjustments. “It's a simple yet elegant design,” said Rovira. “This facade has a nice rhythm and, up close, the river light glitters water reflections in the fins.”

COLOR-SHIFTING FINISH, ANGLED MCMS FOR HEALTH CENTER REVITALIZES UNDERSERVED CHICAGO COMMUNITY

Photos courtesy of 3A Composites USA

A trendy, angled facade for the Esperanza Brighton Park health center lends vitality to this lower-income community on Chicago’s southwest side.

Featured in Crain’s Chicago Businessi> as one of five new buildings that “enhanced the look and character of the neighborhoods around them,” the Esperanza Brighton Park health center sports a trendy, angular aluminum composite material facade. Providing health and wellness services to the underserved residents on the southwest side of Chicago, the Esperanza Brighton Park health center has transformed the former industrial area with a striking, modern facade surrounded by an outdoor walking area, community garden spaces, and a children’s playground. “Esperanza Brighton Park was designed as a wellness oasis for a very large underserved population,” echoes Juan Gabriel Moreno, AIA, president and founder, JGMA, Chicago. “There had not been a lot of investment in this community, so we wanted to make an impact with this design.”

Moreno’s team specified 10,885 square feet of 4 mm MCM in grey and color-shifting red, orange, and yellow panels. Depending on the wavelengths of light reflecting on the panels, occupants perceive a particular color based on their viewing angle. The color-shifting MCM panels were fabricated in parallelogram shapes, which frame a “picture window” spanning the east-facing second floor lending views of the Brighton Park neighborhood. “We’ve reinforced the Esperanza brand identity with this cladding,” adds Moreno. “It is a recognizable destination.”

Because most of the panels have both vertical and horizontal returns to the window, the shapes couldn’t be fabricated out of a single MCM sheet, so two sheets were utilized and the returns were chemically welded to the face of the panels. “We had to carefully coordinate the panels with the window system because the MCM panels were fabricated before the windows were installed,” reported Brendan Nolan, project manager, Tuschall Engineering, Burr Ridge, Ill., the metal subcontractor on the project. “The angles on this project are really unique and this was the first time that we had installed parallelogram panels in a grid pattern. Aligning all of the joints required careful coordination with the other contractors.”

The 26,000-square-foot, two-story facility offers clinical office space, 30 exam rooms, space for additional diagnostic and treatment services, and a retail pharmacy, occupying approximately 3 acres on the former site of a demolished RC Cola plant. Very pleased with the aesthetic lent by the color-shifting MCMs, Moreno relates, “I love when buildings don’t feel static. Esperanza Brighton Park was intentionally designed to grab attention. We want to provide great design to communities that too often are forgotten. This building registers in people’s minds.”

NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER

Photos courtesy of CEI Materials

AECOM specified MCM, terracotta, single skin metal panels and metal louvers for NASA Langley’s largest laboratory in Hampton, Va. The MCM panels are a drained, rear-ventilated rainscreen system and were selected for their rigidity, light weight, and flat appearance.

Achieving the space-age aesthetic NASA was looking for, AECOM specified metal composite material (MCM), along with terracotta, single skin metal panels and metal louvers for NASA Langley’s largest laboratory in Hampton, Va. The MCM panels, which also serve as a drained rear-ventilated rainscreen system, were selected for their rigidity, light weight, and flat appearance. Designed with two distinct finishes, the material lends modernity to the 175,000-square-foot aeronautic building. “The Measurement Systems Laboratory is a world-class facility for research and development of new measurement concepts, technologies, and systems that will enable NASA to achieve its mission in space exploration, science, and aeronautics,” stated Michael Finneran, public relations specialist, NASA Langley Research Center.

Because the building itself is structural concrete, this meant that majority of the cladding materials had to be installed directly onto the structure. In order to achieve a flat, uniform appearance, the design required planning and adjustments in order to design and construct a lateral support system which allowed for external insulation. Additional complexity was introduced by the protruding blades where the louvers were installed following the installation of the metal panels.

Providing valuable assistance to the construction team, the MCM fabricator performed a 3D scan and was able to provide vital information regarding vertical alignment of the wall planes, windows, and column lines prior to construction. The fabricator also leveraged other technologies to provide design assist capabilities to the project team such as ensuring that the metal panels arrived on-site within the proper sequencing of construction, which was essential for meeting the project schedule.

The new lab hosts six NASA research and engineering groups on five floors. "This is going to advance and ensure the capabilities the agency must have for mission success, as well as pave the way for Langley's future as we enter our 100th year," stated NASA Langley Research Center Director Dave Bowles.

3D TESSELLATED METAL COLUMNS CREATE STUNNING FACADE FOR MEXICAN FECHAC BUILDING

Photos courtesy of Arconic

MCMs create a tessellated, angled 3D design for the Chihuahua Businessmen Foundation building in Juarez, Mexico.

Seeking an iconic building to represent the Chihuahua Businessmen Foundation’s commitment to its community in northern Mexico, the organization turned to Juarez, Mexico-based Grupos ARKHOS. Rising to the challenge, the architects came up with a tessellated, 3D design of angled geometric shapes in four repeating columns. Made from aluminum composite material, the 40-foot-tall, 4 mm MCM columns clad the 15,600-square-foot FECHAC building, named for the organization’s Spanish acronym.

In searching for a subcontractor to install the panels, the metal fabricators wanted to cut separate triangles and piece them together with silicon joints. But this was not acceptable to the architect. “We wanted the shape, but nobody in the field of aluminum manufacturing wanted to do the work as we thought it was to be done,” related Ruben Escobar Urrutia, LEED AP BD+C, co-principal at Grupos ARKHOS. “They were afraid of the shape, and they said we should do it with silicon joints. We did not want that because joints collect dirt and the edges would not look sharp…We have a lot of dust in the atmosphere three or four months of the year,” he added, and the facade “could not be something that collected dirt over time. The aluminum panels were a natural option.”

Fortunately, Grupos ARKHOS had worked with a group of carpenters for another metal project and the general contractor was willing to veer from traditional parameters for installing metal panels to help honor the architects’ vision. Consequently, the MCM panels and the structure that supports it were prefabricated on the ground and then lifted by crane into position. This approach ended up saving on construction time and costs, in addition to reducing the risk of damage and injury in working with a 5-foot-by-18-foot metal pieces, with folds on several directions, while standing on top of scaffolding structures to install the panels.

“We like the reflection of the material itself,” said Escobar Urrutia “We try to incorporate aluminum or metal surfaces on our projects. We like that type of finish on our buildings. It gives it more of a high-tech image.” Earning a Metal Construction Association Chairman’s Award for Overall Excellence, the sustainable building also incorporates sun shades, high-performance glazing, and a variable-air-volume HVAC system.

3D TESSELLATED METAL COLUMNS CREATE STUNNING FACADE FOR MEXICAN FECHAC BUILDING

Photos courtesy of 3A Composites USA

Perkins+Will selected MCMs for the new butterfly-shaped tower at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center.

A butterfly-shaped design, largely innovated based on input from Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center staff, was made possible by the flexibility and affordability of metal composite material (MCM) panels for the hospital’s 840,000-square-foot, LEED Gold certified tower.

“The nurses talked about the number of miles they walk per shift. They were particularly interested in creating a plan that pushed together the patient room,” explained John Moorhead, senior project designer, with the Chicago-based Perkins+Will. “The dramatic curvilinear shape was driven by the clinical team and our ‘inside out’ approach. The doctors and nurses really liked the operational flow of this plan.” By placing caregivers at the center of the structure and patients throughout the wings, the building naturally promotes less stress for nurses and faster care for patients.

However, fabricating the unique, curved facade design was easier said than done. Most material options would either have been too expensive or too complicated to achieve Perkins+Will’s vision for the rectangular seven-story base and five-story curvilinear bed tower. “Metal provided flexibility and affordability,” said Moorhead. “It was the perfect choice to give the crisp white look that Rush was interested in, and it was easily adaptable to the shape of the building.” The desired aesthetic was achieved with approximately 250,000 square feet of bone white aluminum cladding material panels. To support the bends and curves in the architectural form, computer-generated drawings were utilized to fabricate the custom MCM panels, which were then fit into a prefabricated curtain wall with a framed support system for the metal panels and glass.

The upper, butterfly-shaped portion of the tower houses 304 new patient rooms while the building’s rectangular-shaped base is home to surgery, diagnostic treatment, surgery imaging, 72 NICU units, and eight labor and delivery suites. The ground level houses the emergency room.

The unique design has drawn attention from the industry, earning the tower a number of awards and feedback such as the following from Chicago Tribune architectural critic Blair Kamin who declared the finished project, “a towering achievement,” stating that “the new Rush hospital could be Chicago’s next great building.”