Designing For Flexible Facades and Spaces

One of the most common requests of the staff and faculty who actually use higher-education spaces is the desire for flexible spaces. What they are usually asking for is the ability to accommodate different size groups in a space or to connect adjacent spaces together. This connection can be made between two interior spaces or between indoor and outdoor spaces. While this all seems reasonable and logical, achieving it often means that the exterior facade has to take on a new dimension. Specifically, it needs to be operable or transformable, essentially allowing the free passage of people, air, light, and activity between indoors and outdoors when required, but be capable of closing up to be weathertight when desired.

A common solution to achieve this connectivity between spaces, particularly indoor/ outdoor spaces, is the use of opening glass walls. These are comprised of individual, full-height panels of glass that are framed in either wood, aluminum, or a combination of both. The glass and frames can be selected to meet the same or different criteria as the rest of the building exterior. The means of operation can be based either on panels that fold (accordion style, off to one or both sides) or on sliding panels that stack or disappear into a wall recess. Either way, the effect is the same—full connectivity between spaces when open and full physical separation when closed, with controlled daylight and views possible in either condition. Creating spaces this way, filled with light and infused with the sense of openness and transparency, exemplifies a spirit of contemporary education and architecture. The resulting designs are more open, creating a shared use of space with brighter interiors and seamless transitions between indoors and outdoors. Moreover, with square footage often at a premium, the opening glass wall allows space to be utilized efficiently with potentially smaller footprints for some areas.

When it comes to using opening glass walls on a college or university campus, there are some other very good reasons to consider them beyond the space flexibility desire. Opening glass walls have been used by designers as a key ingredient for 21^st century learning spaces to provide abundant fresh air ventilation and natural daylighting while providing acoustical buffering when needed. This enhances the well-being of the people inside since students and faculty typically spend 85 to 90 percent of their time indoors and the concentration of pollutants indoors is commonly higher than outdoors. Opening glass walls allow the interior spaces to be flushed with fresh air thus removing pollutants and creating a more invigorating indoor environment. When closed, the acoustic separation allows for better concentration, less noise distraction, and better intelligibility of the sound within the space.

Based on their multiple space, health, and environmental attributes, the use of operable glass walls on a college or university campus is suitable to many different building types. Some of the most common ones are discussed as follows.

• Academic buildings: Opening glass walls provide abundant natural daylight whether they are open or closed. Studies have shown that students with limited classroom daylight were outperformed by those with abundant natural light by 20 percent in math and 26 percent on reading tests. Hence, opening glass walls can help create a demonstrably better learning environment that is appreciated by students and professors alike.
• Auditoriums and multipurpose facilities: Exterior opening glass walls in multipurpose facilities are a natural fit. They can easily be configured to provide expanded event space and indoor/outdoor access for classes, lectures, speakers, performances, and special events. Quickly opened or closed, they deliver unobstructed access into the space, helping to accommodate larger events. The large openings also allow for easy movement of large objects, such as staging, tables, and chairs. The large glass panels provide generous natural daylight, fresh air ventilation when open, and an energy-efficient sound barrier to the outside when closed. During high-traffic events (e.g., class registration or event start and finish), the opening glass walls allow for the free flow of people through wide openings. During low-traffic times or when the system is closed, a single swing door can handle traffic flow while maintaining energy efficiency.

Photos courtesy of NanaWall Systems

Connecting interior spaces can be controlled with opening glass walls to allow full access during high-traffic times or limited access with a traditional swing door panel in lower-traffic times.

• College campus student spaces: Modern campuses are emulating the hospitality industry by creating areas where students can meet, work together, converse, or just hang out. Opening glass walls join multiple areas together to facilitate these activities or can conversely be used to separate out smaller groups when needed.

Photos courtesy of NanaWall Systems

Opening glass walls allow for a seamless transition in the building facade between indoor and outdoor spaces when open and a weathertight seal when closed, as shown here at Arizona Western College in Yuma, Arizona.

• Cafeterias/food service facilities: Creating a great student dining and socializing experience can be enhanced with wide-open entryways to the cafeteria area. A large opening encourages students to easily enter (or exit) and find their classmates. The benefits of the large glass panels include fresh air and natural daylight with the corresponding potential for reduced heating, cooling, and lighting costs—particularly during off-peak times when the space has low occupancy. Outdoor connected food service spaces can easily be converted from open to closed due to a change in the weather since even large operable glass panels can be quickly and easily moved by a staff member.
• Libraries: In libraries, opening glass walls can be used to manage interior space and for sound buffering by partitioning off rooms that have higher activity or sound levels at times. As exterior applications, they can allow for gardens and courtyards to be connected to the interior while allowing natural daylight and fresh air to flow throughout the space.
• Campus natatoriums: Indoor pools can become loud, and the air oppressively heavy. Incorporating an opening glass wall allows fresh air ventilation, relief from sound reverberation, and creates a less closed-in space.
• College sports venues: Many college sports stadiums are creating choices in seating types from open outdoor bleachers to private, enclosed boxes and different levels in between. Using an opening glass wall system in front of a box seating area provides the further option of having a protected seating area or one that is fully open when the weather is favorable. Either way, it maintains an unobstructed view in addition to protecting the seats from the outside elements in the offseason.

Photos courtesy of NanaWall Systems

Sports stadiums and arenas on college campuses that seek to provide protected box seating areas use opening glass walls that move based on weather conditions, such as this one at Boise State University in Idaho.

Overall, the use of opening glass walls can achieve a lot of design and operation goals for college and university buildings. Architects can work with manufacturers to maximize their usefulness and functionality while keeping costs in line with the budget.

FLEXIBLE SPACE CASE STUDY

Photos courtesy of NanaWall Systems

Project: West Valley College, Saratoga, California
Location: San Jose, California
Architect: BFGC-IBI Group Architects

The Project: West Valley College in Northern California was built in the early 1970s and since then has suffered many of the problems associated with that era’s lackluster community college design. The school’s concrete construction, though durable, limits visibility indoors and out and also makes spaces less adaptable than the campus required.

The Solution: Deciding to solve these challenges once and for all, the school enlisted architecture firm BFGC-IBI Group, which created a design to address the concerns. Architecture and interior design draw potential students to a campus, and so the Campus Center needed to be an exciting and beautiful environment. At the center of the concept was a folding glass wall system used both in exterior walls and interior partition locations. The aluminum-framed, thermally broken system replaced the existing single-glazed storefront windows. To contrast the beige truss work and bronze siding, BFGC-IBI Group chose dark gray anodized frames. The panels’ limited fenestration frame (a single mullion bar divides the lower third from the top part) provides excellent illumination and a modernist aesthetic.

Ten openings and 72 panels make the Campus Center installations one of the biggest folding glass wall projects in the country. The thermally broken system has also enhanced the sustainability of the campus. It improves the insulating value of the altered facades, reduces solar heat gain, and allows the college to harvest more natural daylight for indoor illumination.

BFGC-IBI Group included many high-end finishes in the Campus Center that complement the elegant folding glass wall systems. For example, exposed steel is warmed with teak acoustical panels. The square interior tiles are mirrored in the concrete design on the plaza spaces. Finally, the bow roof juxtaposes the flat roofs of the nearby buildings.

The Results: The Campus Center blurs the line between indoor and outdoor space. The Northern California temperate weather can be enjoyed as students eat their lunches inside or use their laptops on the plaza. The folding glass walls create a truly flexible environment. The college echoes this flexibility with the main space—desks, couches, or seating can be manipulated depending on the time of the day or function. The result is an attractive facade that addresses issues of flexibility, visibility, and sustainability.

Further, one of the installations links the two plaza spaces previously separated, creating a new artery for traffic and restoring the plazas to regular use. Another installation in the student center increases the usefulness of the main space. With a fully operable wall of glass, the administration now rents the space for use as a function hall, hosting weddings or parties, and consequently bringing in a new source of income to the college.