![]() ![]() “It’s not just for engineering students,” says Daniel. In this instance, the result is a building that fits the campus aesthetic, serves as a recruiting and branding tool for the university, showcases the engineering and computer science capabilities of the academic environment, and earns a design award. They understand we’re going to respect their design intent.” In a complicated building such as this, with multiple trades competing for work space on a tight job site, a high level of communication and understanding is essential for delivering a sophisticated project. “We kind of gather where they want to go, and they work great with us. “We’ve dealt a lot with SmithGroup,” says James Hatch, vice president of preconstruction for Kovach. The lap siding on the exterior is picked up on an interior wall. That included not only the perforated scrims used to shade the exterior and aluminum bar gratings to expose interior assemblies, but aluminum flat panels in Slate Gray from Petersen Aluminum Corp., Elk Grove Village, Ill., which use an exposed fastener system. Kovach Building Enclosures, Chandler, Ariz., was responsible for the fabrication and installation of the metal, both exterior and interior. We had to find something that achieved all those goals simultaneously.” If the form is right, but doesn’t perform well. If it’s only performative or only looks good. “We were being very strategic about the overall composition of the building,” says Daniel. The scrims themselves become defining and branding elements of the building, which is Ushaped and features a central courtyard. The scrims continue up the façade and fold, framing the façade and capturing a larger exterior terrace. That mix of openness and the need to control heat results in a very active passive design strategy, using perforated metal assemblies on the ends of the building, and building out window surrounds offered greater protection from harsh sunlight while still allowing daylight to filter through. We spent a lot of time applying materials in a way that meets both of those goals.” Well-Placed Shade So, we had to filter and control that sunlight so it’s nice and indirect. We also had to be really cognizant that the building is in North Texas, and it’s really hot during the summer. “That telegraphs to the exterior where we want to get as much daylight in as possible. You can walk down the corridor and see into all the spaces,” says Daniel. In most campus buildings, the interior hallways are tunnels that take them from one dark cavern to another. ![]() Students can walk down a hallway and be drenched in natural light that is filtering through from the exterior. What isn’t encased in glass is revealed in perforated metal. We had a lot of conversations about how to make this building a recruitment tool for the top-tier engineering students and for the faculty.”Īlmost everything on the interior is covered in glass. We’re trying to make it as visible and transparent to the campus as possible. We’re trying to capitalize on the building as a teaching tool. And the exhaust systems are visible from the exterior. You see that in some of the exposed systems like the elevators, which are enclosed in glass. “Because this was primarily a mechanical engineering building,” says Randall Daniel, design architect, SmithGroup, Dallas, “it just made common sense to express that engineering functionality through tectonic architecture, and also capitalize on the building itself as a teaching tool. It’s beautifully detailed.”įor a building that makes so much use of metal, it is a paradox that its defining characteristic is its transparency and openness. Bloszies FAIA Ltd., San Francisco, adds, “A lot of the elements have to do with climate conditions or ventilation. It had a lot going on, but it was restrained and crisp, nonetheless.” Charles Bloszies, FAIA, SE, LEED AP, principal, Office of Charles F. “You’re seeing many different qualities exposed in metal. “I liked it for a number of reasons,” says Lewis McNeel, AIA, associate, Lake|Flato Architects, San Antonio. ![]()
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