This self-professed “nontraditional” architect produces dynamic metal façades for a wide range of building types
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Architect Erik Verboon, R.A., loves working in the building industry because he loves being involved with the design and building process. Presently, he is an associate working in the façades and specialty structures department at Buro Happold, New York City, where he leads a façade engineering team using metals on every project. He designs local and international projects ranging in variety where metal is simply used for trim, all the way up to projects where the entire building complex is wrapped in stainless steel tubes: 550 miles worth.
Metal runs in Verboon’s family. His father spent his entire career in the machine tool business building large machines for processing metals primarily for the automotive and aerospace industries. This influenced his decision to attend graduate school at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.J., where his father also attended. His undergraduate degree was in architecture from the University of Cincinnati.
Framing and Façade Firsts
It was at his first job out of undergraduate school at the small, innovative firm Michael McInturf Architects, Cincinnati, where Verboon was baptized by the power of metal architecture. He worked on a variety of project types there, but his primary project involved the design and construction of the firm’s offices in a landmark building in downtown Cincinnati.
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Verboon helped engineer this Hoboken, N.J.-based |
“The project involved quite a bit of wood, but also incorporated light-gauge steel for the purpose of framing the complex geometry of the wood interior, as well as interior walls that utilized cold-rolled steel framing and steel woven mesh,” he says. “The fantastic part of utilizing those steel elements was the ability to walk down the street and design with a talented group of steel craftsmen.”
His fascination with façades was birthed during graduate school interning with SHoP Architects, New York City, and Skidmore, Owings
& Merrill, New York City. “We were working hand-in-hand with the principals and design leaders of these offices to create designs that were informed by data and analysis, as well as the capabilities of advanced digital design and fabrication tools,” Verboon says. “The ability to interface with these individuals directly helped build my confidence to allow me to do what I do today as a façade consultant.”
Primary Aesthetic Element
While metals have been a part of every project he has worked on to some degree, the use of them in advanced engineering feats-and where they are the primary aesthetic element in a project-did not occur until working at Buro Happold. Verboon believes the most exciting metal application is as a cladding element in the building envelope.
“In regards to metals used in façade work, the primary challenges have to do with the goal of minimizing structure, the long-term durability and appearance of exposed metals, and increasingly, the embodied energy of selected metals,” he says. “The projects we work on often desire to minimize the appearance of the framing materials. While some materials are inherently suited for façade systems due to their ability to easily be extruded; stronger, heavier and perhaps more labor-intensive metal systems are often desired to achieve a sense of immateriality and transparency. As the life span for most façades we work on is 50 years or greater, the appearance and durability of the exposed cladding metals are of utmost importance to architects and building owners. Understanding the implications of various metals and coatings is critical when designing a building that will last and look good for a long time.”
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| Photo courtesy of Phillip Handforth |
Verboon believes that buildings being designed today-whether in form or in implementation-benefit from digital modeling and computational tools. “This can take form in the use of BIM software that can simply model, track and quantify façade components on straightforward building forms, to perhaps more sophisticated digital modeling tools or custom computational software developed to rationalize and fully develop complex façade systems,” he says.
Verboon’s work on the King Abdul Aziz Center for World Culture, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, is a very good example of the latter procedure. Readily available modeling tools, working in combination with custom computational tools, were first utilized to develop the façade concept, which would not have been possible through analog means. This aided Verboon’s design and engineering team in visualizing the system and providing early engineering studies of the façade concept. Once the façade was tendered, the contractor utilized the centerlines Buro Happold developed in the design stage as the basis of further development for the discretion of the tubes, their support strategy, and as the input to custom CNC fabrication machines that formed and labeled the individual components.
Envelope and Energy Use
Verboon understands the building envelope has become a primary factor in building energy use, playing a much bigger role in the overall building performance, and as a result, having increasingly greater demands placed upon it.
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“Increased thermal and airtightness requirements mandated by evolving codes and the desires for specific sustainability targets has caused our industry to not only think more creatively about how we use known and readily available systems, but has also pushed the market to develop new materials that are continuously being introduced,” he says. “Our job as façade designers is increasingly demanding us to think outside the normal understanding of system performance. Also, to develop strategies that can help achieve desired goals, while also assisting in the development and creation of new materials.”
By designing this way and embracing his love for the building process, Verboon will continue to deliver successful façade projects that meet design intents, exceed desired client performance and are delivered on time within budget.
Sidebar: Arch Connect
What is the best advice you ever received as an architect?
This advice was given to me when having to respond to hot-headed clients: Take a day, have a beer, think and then respond.
What’s on your iPod while you work?
When I have a chance to listen to music: Black Sabbath, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, David Allen Coe, Travis Tritt
What do you do on weekends?
Doing my best to not work much on the weekend, so I can enjoy the weekend spending time with my wife, 4-year-old son and newborn son. This usually revolves around soccer practice and playground time. In the “off-time,” I am trying to plan the renovation of the new 1907 Richardsonian Romanesque house in Jersey City, N.J., we recently purchased. If it’s a slow weekend, I attempt to go for a long bike ride-usually unsuccessful.
What is your favorite book?
I think “1984” by George Orwell, but I can’t remember the last time I read for pleasure.
Where is your favorite place to vacation?
We don’t have a regular vacationing spot yet, but I like to experience new sites. I am happy anywhere that involves family and good friends.
What historical figure would you most like to have dinner with and why?
Tough question, but if I had an opportunity to pick someone’s brain over the course of a meal, one idea would be Filippo Brunelleschi. Studying the design, engineering and construction of the dome in Florence, I found it fascinating that a single person could develop the concepts for all three aspects of that fascinating feat of engineering. I’d like to know if he even had time for dinner.
To future architects, what advice would you give?
I often tell those interested in pursuing a career in architecture to first study or get experience in another field, ideally unrelated or tangentially related to architecture. Many of the most talented architects I have met have a prior life or experience in another field that somehow makes them a better architect. In the building industry, it also doesn’t hurt to have to have an alternate skill set in case the economy tanks.