Metal helps expand, renovate and reclad office and warehouse
Established in 1930, Lombard, Ill.-based Adjustable Forms is one of the nation’s largest concrete construction companies, constantly finishing among the top 20 concrete contractors in the United States in terms of revenue over the last five years. The firm has remained in the same location for 30 years when its leaders concluded in 2012 that they needed to double the size of their office and warehouse, both to accommodate their ongoing success and reflect their commitment for construction in the Chicagoland market. Serving as both general contractor and concrete contractor for this project, Adjustable Forms executives aimed to create additional space with amenities that would help them achieve a LEED Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.
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“We really wanted to showcase this concrete subcontractor with the right material,” says Nathan Casteel, AIA, LEED AP, BD+ C, DLR Group, Chicago, the architect for the project. “We used metal as a way to contrast and complement the rawness of the concrete; it became the black tie of the project. We tried to reuse as much of the existing building’s elements as possible: the structural piles, foundations, steel joists and column, roof deck, brick and masonry. The existing concrete slabs were crushed and repurposed as granular fill material for new floor systems.”
A high-performance rainscreen system with dark zinc from Holland, Mich.-based Dri-Design panels showcased metal’s abilities. “The solid panel system is made of ANTHRA-ZINC, a black zinc product created by VMZINC,” says Chandra Hester, marketing assistant at Umicore Building Products USA Inc., Raleigh, N.C. “It possesses a velvety look to provide a sophisticated contrast to the stark minimalist light-colored concrete massing. The pre-weathered metal used can withstand strong rainstorms and thunderstorms, and maintain its integrity without producing hazardous runoff.”
Earl A. Hernandez, director of sales and marketing at Burr Ridge, Ill.-based Tushcall Engineering Co., the metal installer for the project, feels that concrete and zinc really work well together. Also, “Metal is extremely sustainable in many ways,” he says. “Zinc is recyclable, uses minimal amounts of energy to extract and will outlast most other construction materials leading to the overall longer life cycles we expect from today’s modern buildings. It may last well over 100 years.”
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This is important because the zinc panels reinforce the designer’s and owners’ wish for building sustainability and longevity. “The owners, a father and son, really wanted the building around for many years and pass it down from generations,” says Casteel. “Zinc is a natural material and it aligned itself with sustainability. It is pure in its essence.” Pure and it’s also a very effective green design choice. Hester argues both the VMZINC Dri-Design panels and the sunscreen’s zinc corrugated panels are more environmentally friendly and better choices than composite or form panels. “VMZINC
Dri-Design panels are made with recycled content and because it has no sealants, gaskets or butyl tape in the panel joints, there will be no dirty streaks or maintenance problems,” she says. “Both the VMZ Corrugated and VMZINC Dri-Design are 100 percent recyclable and are able to preserve their color for decades without maintenance because of zinc’s natural self-healing properties.”
A sunscreen consisting of a perforated VMZINC Corrugated ANTHRA-ZINC panel system on painted galvanized steel framing reduces the glare and heat from the harsh western sun in the late afternoons. “It provides a changing aesthetic as the sun moves across the sky,” says Casteel. “The zinc panel is an abstract representation of the form work being lifted from the concrete mass, what builders call ‘stripping the forms.’ The transparency constantly changes with the light, producing design flexibility and harmony for the entire project.”
Casteel says in the evening as the sun fades, the sunscreen becomes more of a transparent façade that lets people see into the building, as opposed to during the day, when it simply appears as a solid panel. Also, “The sunscreen reduces sun glare and the solar heat gain on the interior,” he adds, “but we wanted to keep the building as open as possible. Natural daylight can still come in through the perforated screen. We kept connectivity to the outside.” Daylighting is further optimized with skylights and continuous glazing around the perimeter. LED lighting and radiant flooring further maximize energy efficiency.
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The design team evaluated and analyzed different systems and building materials like aluminum cladding, insulated metal panels and fiber cement panels to see which would be the best for the building. “The sustainability and longevity of zinc outruled everything,” Casteel says. “Utilizing as much of the existing structure as possible, we were able to keep much of the brick and masonry, and reclad over it. It gave us the dynamic, sophisticated image we were looking for.” This image is what the client and others were looking for too. Casteel says Adjustable Forms is very happy with the finished building. The 2014 Metal Architecture Design Award judges were impressed with it, especially its sunscreen, citing how it “unified the front of the building.” Furthermore, the Adjustable Forms building has been awarded the Chicago Building Congress Award and is tracking LEED Gold certification.
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Adjustable Forms Building, Lombard, Ill.
Completed: August 2013
Total square footage: 20,145 square feet
Building owner/general contractor/concrete contractor: James and Eric Lindquist, Adjustable Forms Inc., Lombard, www.adjustableforms.com
Architect: DLR Group, Chicago, www.dlrgroup.com
Landscape architect: Ecology + Vision, Leland, Ill., www.ecologyllc.com
Glass supplier: Christopher Glass and Aluminum, Chicago, www.christopherglasschicago.com
Metal fabricator/installer: Tuschall Engineering Co., Burr Ridge, Ill., www.tuschalleng.com
Metal wall panels: Umicore Building Products USA Inc., Raleigh, N.C., www.vmzinc-us.com, and Dri-Design, Holland, Mich., www.dri-design.com
Zinc: Umicore Building Products USA Inc.