Reflective Scales
Posted
05/6/2011
Alucobond panels help create building's fish-scale surface
The Vancouver Organizing Committee challengedthree architectural
firms to design Millennium Water, the Southeast False Creek Olympic
Village, for its first use as a temporary home for many of the
2,600 athletes from 82 nations that competed in the 2010 Winter
Olympics, held Feb. 12-28, 2010. Millennium Water was designed as a
sustainable, mixed-use residential and commercial community that
incorporates not only environmental sustainability, but also social
and economic sustainability goals.
At 1.4 million square feet, and an estimated total cost of
$1.075 billion, Millennium Water is the largest single-phase
development in Canada. The Olympic Village, which was awarded
LEED-ND Platinum status, encompasses seven city blocks and includes
16 residential buildings-all of which were awarded LEED Gold
certifications.
Built on a former industrial site, the Southeast False Creek
Olympic Village was designed as a showcase for green building,
incorporating leading-edge techniques ranging from green roofs to
toilets flushed with the aid of rainwater. The entire complex is
heated by sewage; while renewable energy systems, including solar
panels and solar hot water systems, generate power for households.
Building materials were chosen for their sustainability, including
their embodied energy use over the building's lifespan in the form
of required maintenance and upkeep.
3A Composites USA Inc.'s Alucobond naturAL aluminum composite
material featuring a finely textured aluminum surface with a FEVE
clear coat was selected with the brushed finish for cladding of
Parcel 4 of the Olympic Village.
Known as Canada House, Parcel 4 served as the temporary home of
Canada's athletes during the Olympic Games. The Canada House's
unique design incorporates a fish-scale surface achieved with
approximately 77,000 square feet of 4-mmthick Alucobond naturAL
fabricated into 7,000 individual panels. This sculpted
architectural image reflects the property's waterfront location
overlooking Vancouver Harbor at the northwest corner of the
Millennium Water development.
The $75 million Canada House residence consists of two
buildings-the 106,100-square-foot 12-story West Building and the
55,750-square-foot seven-story East Building-offering 60
condominium suites. A public courtyard featuring a reflecting pool
and light sculpture separates the two buildings. The original
building design was reconfigured from a u-shaped massing to two
separate buildings to allow the greatest amount of sunlight to
flood the courtyard and waterfront public walkway and bike path to
the north of the site.
According to architect Nick Milkovich with Nick Milkovich
Architects Inc., the sculptural shaping of the buildings was done
to allow more early morning sunlight to reach the public garden and
park to the west of the site. To achieve this goal, the west
building leans away from the park by 15 feet over its 12-story
height through a rotation of floor plates. The same movement was
applied to the lower seven-story building.
"The resulting dynamic silhouette of the buildings is enhanced
by the cladding of glass and brushed aluminum 'fish scales' that
catch the changing light of the day creating interesting shadows
articulating the textured skin," says Milkovich.
"These buildings were very unique in the village," says Carlo
Gatti, business development manager at Keith Panel Systems, which
fabricated the Alucobond naturAL and installed it with the
proprietary KPS System "A" Plus, which features a dry-joint
pressure-equalized rainscreen.
KPS became involved in the project in a design assistance role
two years prior to its completion, according to Gatti, who said the
design complexities of the fish-scale look required weekly meetings
to solve interface connections on the building.
"All issues were resolved in these design assistance meetings,"
says Gatti. "We used typical details floor-to-floor to design the
panel system. And, to accommodate the twist in the building, we
ensured the panel dimensions were field measured … To create the
fish scales, we fabricated wedge-shaped panels. The assembling of
our proprietary frame to the Alucobond was unique. We tested it for
structural and rainscreen performance."
KPS proposed the use of Alucobond naturAL in response to the
architect's specification of a natural-looking metal. Each building
floor features a fascia band with the fish-scale design fabricated
from Alucobond naturAL.
"The Alucobond offered a quality finish in terms of performance
over time, and it offered the flexibility to make any size panel
with no oil canning," says Gatti. "The Alucobond composite also
gave us flexibility in completing unique closures and profiles. The
head and sill panels at the window in this project were comprised
of irregular shapes. With Alucobond, we could keep the edges
crisp."
At one point in the design process, the architects considered
utilizing insulated glass for the fish scales, but the idea was
rejected as being too expensive, according to Milkovich.
"We wanted a material that would be a little reflective, and the
Alucobond gave us reflection," says Milkovich. "It could carry the
fish-scale shape and the Alucobond strip (fascia) along the
building … Compared to other metals, the Alucobond was thicker. It
doesn't oil can. And, it provides a good flat surface. The south
façade of these buildings is nearly solid Alucobond."
"In the case of Canada House, the Alucobond naturAL reflects the
color of the atmosphere," says Gatti. "As the sun hits the panel,
it produces an interesting effect."
It took KPS approximately six months to fabricate the Alucobond
naturAL panels, according to Gatti, who said the panels were fed to
the site as required. Canada House was the last parcel to begin
construction at the Southeast False Creek Olympic Village, and KPS
was the final trade to work on these buildings under the
supervision of the general contractor. Canada House was turned over
to the Vancouver Organizing Committee in October 2009.
"With the Olympic Games looming, we couldn't slide the
deadline," says Milkovich. "We knew that the repeated pattern would
make construction fairly fast. But, with the shape of the building,
not every piece would be the same. Keith Panel Systems did a
marvelous job."
Adds Gatti: "Even though we were put in a tight position, we
managed to finish two weeks ahead of schedule. The job completion
date on this project was non-negotiable. The athletes had to move
in."
KPS received the 2010 Vancouver Regional Construction
Association's Gold Medal in the President's Trade Awards category
for its involvement in the design, development and installation of
the Alucobond panels featured in the KPS System "A" Plus on Canada
House.
Millennium Water, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
General contractor: ITC Construction Group, Vancouver
Architect: Nick Milkovich Architects Inc., Vancouver
Design consultant: Arthur Erickson, CC, Vancouver
Fabricator/installer: Keith Panel Systems Co. Ltd., Vancouver
Metal wall panels: 3A Composites USA Inc., Mooresville, N.C.,
www.alucobondusa.com, Circle #76