The Lofts at 2013 Second St., Berkeley, Calif.

by Rosa Soto | 15 July 2021 12:00 am

LDP Architecture Inc. used a combination of gray metal wall panels for its modern, industrial inspired design for The Lofts at 2013 Second St., a multi-unit residential and artist work space building. It was an adaptive reuse project of a former animal shelter. The 29,997-square-foot building houses 19 artist live and work units.

At the sides of the front, street side of the building, there are dark gray, vertical, ribbed metal wall panels. At the sides of the building, there is a vertical striped pattern of three gray panels. And, at the back of the building, there are gray, horizontal metal panels.

Toby Levy, founding principal at LDP Architecture, says, “The new building needed to remain sincere to the site while providing inhabitants of the new live and work artist lofts with a contemporary, captivating quality. The Fabral 4-inch Rib allowed us to deliver the desired modern aesthetic while staying true to the surrounding context. Meanwhile, the Core Architectural Colors by Fabral provided a generous standard color palette that allowed for the patchwork three-color pattern that our design called for.”

Other portions of the building are painted white, and there are bright blue polycarbonate panels, as well. “Neighborhood character is expressed in the exposed wood beams and a pattern of varied corrugated metal,” Levy says. “An array of vibrant and colorful polycarbonate panels above hint at the imagination of the artist residents creating inside.”

One important feature is a perforated metal screen located at the base of the building. On the street side, metal flat bar and rods are overlaid on the perforated panels in a pattern that depicts an aerial map of the site and surrounding streets, railways, shoreline and Interstate 80.

Additionally, the perforated panels allow views through an opening at the base of the building that continues to the backside. In the back, there is a landscaped courtyard that connects the building with its neighborhood.

In total, Peterson Sheet Metal Inc. installed 3,300 square feet of Fabral Inc.’s 4-inch Rib exposed fastener metal wall panels with 4-inch rib spacing. At the street side on the west side of the building, the panels are Charcoal Grey. The north and south sides of the building are clad with a vertical striping pattern of three panel colors: Charcoal Grey, Dark Grey and Slate Grey.

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/projects/the-lofts-at-2013-second-st-berkeley-calif/

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