The CCH Medical Center is one of only 10 pediatric hospitals in the United States to be ranked on the Honor Roll of U.S. News and World Report’s 2009 edition of America’s Best Children’s Hospitals. Continuing to grow, the organization has recently constructed new medical office buildings that house its latest practices and also contribute to its ongoing site revitalization. To meet the needs of this growth, and to further match the quality of facilities with the quality of its care, CCH employed the most dynamic of architectural elements.
Completed in August 2009, Cambridge Architectural supplied curved, intersecting woven metal fabric panels that uniquely and securely adorn the exterior of the new parking garage. The Cambridge Parkade architectural mesh system clads the garage in a revolutionary basket weave design to provide aesthetics, durability and security for the structure.
The first design of its kind by Cambridge, it features both longitudinal and latitudinal curves of woven metal fabric resulting in an eye-catching building façade that gives the parking garage a unique and experimental look.
Although the flowing mesh panels appear soft and delicate, the stainless-steel system was built to sustain the Cincinnati climate, unfazed by harsh winters and warm, humid summers. Additionally, the mesh system offers unparalleled safety by providing fall protection and transparency allowing views into the well-lit garage deck at night.
“The metal fabric by Cambridge offered flexibility, durability and ease of installation in addition to the necessary high openness ratio for the two types of exterior treatments used on our project,” said Raffi Tomassian, designer with DNK Architects Inc., the project architect. “The combination of these factors with a contemporary, shimmering, diaphanous look locked us in on the product.”
“This project is especially important to us because it presents a groundbreaking visual design without sacrificing performance, making it a truly complete solution,” said Heather Collins, director of marketing for Cambridge Architectural.
For this project, Cambridge developed an ideal system to address all the visual and functional needs of the architect. The system was then specifically engineered to the building’s exterior to assure a streamlined installation.
“The installation went very smoothly,” said Brad Hitzfield, president and CEO of ProCLAD Inc., the installer. “Cambridge’s attachment design was seamless, user-friendly and delivered the look that the team desired.”
“It was great working with Cambridge because they responded to our project confidently from the beginning and took a very proactive approach throughout to make sure that our vision was uncompromisingly realized,” Tomassian said.
The Parkade system was fabricated with mesh in Cambridge’s Stripe and MidBalance pattern, which features large-scaled open weaves. Cambridge’s Eclipse tension attachment hardware was used to install the Stripe and Midbalance product.
“DNK’s design and Cambridge’s material delivers a cutting-edge design-there is nothing like it in the parking garage world,” Hitzfield said. “You’d never think it was a parking garage because the mesh takes your eyes off of the main structure.”
Construction manager: Al. Neyer Inc., Cincinnati
Architect: DNK Architects Inc., Cincinnati
Installer: ProCLAD Inc., Noblesville, Ind.
Woven metal fabric: Cambridge Architectural, Cambridge, Md., www.cambridgearchitectural.com
