Chicago health center prescribes sustainability
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| Photos: Bob Perzel Photography, Minneapolis |
Mile Square Health Center is the first federally qualified health center in the Chicago area to offer urgent care and specialty care, including mammography services, under one roof. Completed and opened to the public in January 2014, the sustainably designed five-story, 122,000-square-foot health center has earned LEED Gold certification.
Moody Nolan architects, Chicago designed the building to be not only state-of-the-art, but also visually striking. The facility must support primary care, family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, urgent care, mental health, optometry and health laboratories services. Structurally, the building has to be resilient, with a flexible floor plate designed to accommodate ever-changing programmatic needs and the addition of professional practice suites and new programs on the top three floors of the building, which were left unfinished.
The new, $44 million health center has a façade consisting of Norcross, Ga.-based Alcoa Architectural Products’ Reynobond aluminum composite materials (ACM) and Norcross-based Kawneer Co. Inc. products. The horizontal and modular nature of the façade pattern allows flexibility for locating windows where desired or needed for views and natural light in response to future building programs. The façade displays different characteristics depending on the daylight conditions.
On its exterior façade, more than 42,000 square feet of 4-mm Reynobond ACM with a fire-resistant (FR) core, finished in three Colorweld 500 colors, were fabricated and installed in a random pattern. “We were interested in a somewhat subtle variation in the tone of grey for the exterior of the building,” says Roderic Walton, project manager for Moody Nolan. “It created a more active façade, something that would attract interest from the passerby. Once we had the base (standard) color, we were able to work with
[installer, South Bend, Ind.-based] Shaffner Heaney [Associates Inc.] to dial in the two custom colors.”
“The architect wanted the panel joint lines to align with the mullions on the curtainwall,” says Justin Klatt of Shaffner Heaney, “and there were some corner areas where they didn’t want to add panel joints, so we purchased 260-inch Reynobond material and came up with ways to use it to give them the look they wanted.” The 260-inch material posed some fabrication challenges due to equipment limitations-numerous passes on the CNC tables were required; and it was extremely complicated to install. The typical size of the Reynobond panels used was approximately 2 feet, 4 inches tall by 16 feet long, varying from this length around windows and at perimeter conditions.
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The metal panel rainscreen system was specified to help reduce hot and cold movement through the wall and promote water drainage, reducing heating and cooling costs, as well as the potential for mold. It also provided the crisp, clean design aesthetic the architects wanted, and worked well with the concept of a flexible façade. Daylighting is an important element to both sustainable building and patients’ well-being. The architects specified Kawneer’s traditional 1600 Wall System1 and 1600 Wall System2 finished in Kawneer’s #14 Class 1 clear anodized finish for the curtainwall to provide visual impact, thermal performance and reliability.
The center’s sustainable features include highefficiency mechanical systems and lighting/plumbing fixtures, along with occupancy sensors, water use reduction, permeable pavers, a vegetated roof terrace that plays an integral role in the stormwater management plan, natural daylighting, high-efficiency building systems, use of building materials with recycled content, and more.
Sidebar: Mile Square Health Center, Chicago
Owner: University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System of Chicago, Illinois
Architect: Moody Nolan, Chicago
General contractor: The George Sollitt Construction Co., Wood Dale, Ill.
Glazing fabricator: R.J. Aluminum, Indianapolis
Glazing installer: Reflection Window & Wall LLC, Chicago
Metal panel installer: Shaffner Heaney Associates Inc., South Bend, Ind., and Indiana & Hennessy Sheet Metal Inc., South Chicago Heights, Ill.
Metal panel fabricator: SHApe Architectural, South Bend, www.shapearchitectural.com
Curtainwall: Kawneer Co. Inc., Norcross, Ga., www.kawneer.com
Metal wall panels: Reynobond by Alcoa Architectural Products, Norcross, www.reynobond.com
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