Kinetic Metal Façade: Welcoming Gateway

by Mark Robins | 1 December 2022 12:00 am

To help do this, a new parking structure strategically placed at the northeast corner acts as a distinct entry monument for the community as well as for patients traveling from all over Southern California. Los Angeles-based CO Architects was part of the design-build team with Irvine, Calif.-based TRC Parkitects and its general contractor St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Companies Inc. to create Parking Structure A.

The defining feature is a kinetic façade—comprised of 0.040-inch-thick individual flapper tags in various sizes, coated in six Kynar shades—from Pittsburgh-based EXTECH/Exterior Technologies Inc. The brightly colored KINETICWALL embraces City of Hope’s dedication to holistic cancer care and contributes to sustainability initiatives and visitor safety.

“Each of the colored moving tags symbolize colorful ribbons and tags that patients have long tied to the trees of City of Hope, carrying messages of hope and wishes for a cure,” says John Konstantinidis, senior preconstruction manager, McCarthy Building. The façade covers three sides of the cast-in-place concrete parking structure. “It’s comprised of pre-finished aluminum [tags] and stainless steel fasteners,” adds Steve Kuhn, AIA, NCARB, principal at TRC Parkitects.

19,000 Colorful Metal Tags

Wind animates the façade’s more than 19,000 colorful metal tags, eliciting neural responses in City of Hope’s patients, who have expressed that they are both mesmerized and soothed while watching the movement of the tags. “While the winds playing with the moving tags catch the eye and bring a sense of wonder, the façade is at the same time quiet and peacefully welcoming patients to what can be an overwhelming experience,” Konstantinidis says. “Our design philosophy for medical campuses is to extend the healing environment into the parking structure, primarily by simplifying the recognition, vehicular/pedestrian circulation and overall parking experience, to reduce confusion and stress. The overall gateway experience is enhanced and adds to the healing comfort experienced.”

“Aluminum was selected for the tags as the most durable way to create kinetic walls that pay homage to City of Hope’s wishing trees tradition,” says Gina Chang, AIA, EDAC, principal, CO Architects. “In addition to moving in the wind to provide an engaging architectural feature, the tags reduce the amount of solar gain and glare inside the structure, while casting pleasing shadows of the moving tags on the interior of the building. The natural ventilation is maintained due to spacing between the façade elements and by the wind-driven movement.” Another benefit of the façade system is that it maintains visual access to and from the parking structure—an important passive safety measure.

Durability and Movement

Kevin Smith, director of product design and development at EXTECH, agrees the anodized and painted aluminum kinetic elements provide the long-term durability and movement the client was seeking. “The black anodized pre-assembled kinetic frames provide a strong, yet lightweight system that disappears into the background allowing the kinetic elements to appear to float on the building façade. The fully pre-assembled nature of the kinetic panels with adjustable mounting clips speeds overall installation.”

The entire system is comprised of extruded aluminum rails, horizontal rungs and a mounting bracket system for anchoring the façade to the building surface. Vandal mesh was used in areas with public access. The individual flapper elements are fastened using pin-mounted technology to allow movement in the wind. “This pin-mounted system most closely emulates the wishing tags and allows for the desired type of movement—more individualized movement per tag than a monolithic, fabric-type quality,” Chang explains. “A full-size mockup was constructed to test the movement using the wind on-site, and to coordinate the structural anchorage in a way that wouldn’t detract from the overall façade.”

Wayfinding was a primary consideration in the parking structure’s design. Huge City of Hope logos set within textured metal boxes are prominently displayed at each vehicular entrance. “At a distance, the City of Hope logo identifies the destination, particularly at night when the family logo glows with backlighting,” Konstantinidis says.

Kuhn notes, “We also designed complex cantilevered stairs, roof level canopies and additional pre-finished façade elements all made of prefinished and painted metal elements. Metal was used as a cost-effective solution for these design features providing the architectural character and long-term durability required by the client. Though there is some current thinking that metal elements require long-term maintenance and higher overall cost, we found that to be the opposite condition for this project. The robust design could not have been achieved without the natural ability of metals to be used effectively for so many of the design features.”

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/articles/kinetic-metal-facade-welcoming-gateway/

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