Gruskin Architecture and Design PC designed the exterior of the Green Lane Academic Building at Kean University with a six-story sloping glass radius curtainwall on the northeast elevation and a five-story radius curtainwall on the south side, both accented with sunshades. The building features several flat vertical walls, a segmented radius, 56-degree outside corner, parapets, soffits and a tilted ellipse feature wall.
Gary Snee, project manager at general contractor Dobco Inc., says this was the most unique project he has worked on from a design and constructability standpoint. “The radius and sloping curtainwall made it a challenge,” he says.
Graham Architectural Products-Curtain Wall Solutions fabricated and glazed the unitized curtainwall, pressure wall, aluminum sunshades, storefronts, entrances and tilted ellipse glass handrails. Union County Plate Glass Co. installed the components. Approximately 6,000 feet of sunshades help manage solar heat gain and glare. Super Sky Products Enterprises manufactured and installed the skylight system. Linetec finished all the architectural building products’ aluminum framing for the 102,275-square-foot glass-and-aluminum façade in Silver with PPG Industries’ 70 percent PVDF Duranar XL and Duranar Sunstorm.
Unlike a traditional inverted radius wall with a slope, the intent of the tilted ellipse was to keep the radius constant and the center of the radius projecting out 4 1/2 feet at every floor moving up the building. Nick Irwin, sales representative at Graham Architectural Products-Curtain Wall Solutions, says the project was complicated. Irwin described the curtainwall design as “an ice cream cone on the side of an undulating building that’s basically all glass.”
The Green Lane Academic Building opened in January 2014 and houses the Michael Graves School of Architecture, Robert Busch School of Design, a bookstore and café with outdoor seating. The sixth floor includes a 1,200-square-foot circular meeting room with 18-foot-high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows and a 4,500-square-foot roof terrace with a view of the Manhattan skyline. The south side of the building features a staircase with bench seating and glass rails. The $40 million project received the AIA Newark and Suburban Architects Gold Award.
Owner: Kean University, Union, N.J.
General contractor: Dobco Inc., Wayne, N.J.
Architect: Gruskin Architecture and Design PC, Springfield, N.J.
Installer: Union County Plate Glass Co., Elizabeth, N.J.
Glass and coatings system: PPG Industries, Pittsburgh, www.ppg.com
Glass fabricator: J.E. Berkowitz LP, Pedricktown, N.J., www.jeberkowitz.com
Finisher: Linetec, Wausau, Wis., www.linetec.com
Curtainwall, storefront, entrance, handrail and sunshades: Graham Architectural Products-Curtain Wall Solutions, Merrill, Wis., www.grahamwindows.com
Skylights manufacturer/installer: Super Sky Products Enterprises LLC, Mequon, Wis., www.supersky.com
