Pacific Plaza, Tacoma, Wash.
Posted
07/28/2011
Once a
four-story, decades old and crumbling parking garage, the Pacific
Plaza building is now a striking new six-story, state-of-the-art
structure, and Washington's only LEED Platinum core and shell
construction project.
The $35 million, 250,000-square-foot project features two new
floors of 68,800 square feet of Class A commercial space; 32,000
square feet of refurbished storefront office and retail space; and
a 28,000-square-foot green roof.
More than 26,000 square feet of Metl-Span CF insulated panels
were used to clad the inhabited portion of the office
building/parking garage structure. The 3-inch panels were finished
in Weathered Zinc and installed horizontally in 24-, 30- and
36-inch widths. The Metl-Span panels interface with a cement
composite façade system used to clad the exterior walls on the
parking garage portion of the building.
Pacific Plaza is the result of a successful publicprivate
partnership between the city of Tacoma and the local development
team of Pacific Plaza Development LLC. The city replaced a
seismically deficient garage with a larger, like-new facility while
the developer obtained streetfront retail space and air rights for
commercial space without the burden of providing structure parking.
The result has rejuvenated a key commercial district.
BLRB
Architects designed the award-winning project. "We were the only
development team that proposed to keep the existing building and
not put it in a landfill," says Ben Ferguson, project manager and
lead administrator on the project. Built in 1970 as part of a HUD
urban renewal effort, the original parking structure was clad in a
hammered concrete finish. "It was stylish at the time but aged
quickly," according to Ferguson.
While the firm had not used Metl-Span before, Ferguson reports
that they were familiar with the concept of insulated metal panel
products. "Our contractor looked around for different brands and
the Metl-Span was the most price competitive by far," Ferguson
says. "From an architectural standpoint, the Metl-Span enabled us
to get the very flat aesthetic that we wanted. It creates a very
monolithic, structured and polished look."
BLRB designers used a peel and stick air and vapor barrier. "By
having the insulation outboard, it enabled us to break our dew
point outside the air and vapor barrier which helped eliminate any
concern for mold in the cavities of the walls," according to
Ferguson. "What we really like about Metl-Span is that the system
is really an air and vapor barrier on its own. The building is
extremely tight and energy efficient."
Pacific Plaza was named the 2010 Sustainable Project of the Year
by NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association.
Owner: City of Tacoma
Developer: Pacific Plaza Development LLC, Tacoma
Builder: Absher Construction Co., Puyallup, Wash.
Architect: BLRB Architects, Tacoma
Structural engineer: PCS Structural Solutions, Seattle
Installer: Kenco Construction Inc., Seattle
Metal wall panels: Metl-Span, Lewisville, Texas,
www.metlspan.com
www.metlspan.com