Hopedale, Mass.-based Building Envelope Systems installed approximately 18,112 square feet of Holland, Mich.-based Dri-Design’s 0.08-inch aluminum Shadow Series panels in five custom colors-Blue Dragon, Desert Twilight, Hathaway Gold, Home on the Range and Sea Haze-on Longwater Place, Norwell, Mass., completed in fall 2013. The colors designated office, medical office and laboratory spaces with three glass lobbies, exterior entrances and two atriums.
FoxRock Properties, Quincy, Mass., purchased the 25-acre site that included a functional headquarters and warehouse space in 2010. Instead of demolishing the building, FoxRock Properties worked with Steffian Bradley Architects, Boston, to transform the structure into sustainable leasing space.
John Cummings, executive director of property and construction at FoxRock Properties, says demolishing and rebuilding was an expensive option, and some existing tenants were considered anchor tenants. “The existing building, while dated, was structurally sound, and we had a vision how it would work as a campus environment with the new 80,000-square-foot medical building that we constructed,” he explains.
Joseph Sirkovich, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, principal at Steffian Bradley Architects, says an exterior facelift was part of the vision to transition from the precast corduroy concrete tilt-up panels that made a dark, heavy, fortress-like structure. “Because of this, Steffian Bradley Architects proposed to the owner to pursue an image that would be the complete opposite-light, metal, horizontal and colorful,” he says.
Shadow Series panels were installed over Wilmington, Del.-based Dupont’s Tyvek, plywood and the existing concrete panels. Brad Zeeff, president of Dri-Design, says even though the panels’ depth changes, the building remains watertight because the substrate for each panel is at the same level. Zeeff notes Shadow Series adds intrigue and texture because each panel can be extended to varying depths. “This allows architects and building owners to be creative and inviting with a 3-D façade,” he adds.
Longwater Place features energy-efficient windows with solar controls, skylights, a new roof, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection upgrades, natural landscaping, paver and pervious pavement sidewalks, and single-stream recycling. The Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts recognized Longwater Place with a Sustainability Award for Green Construction.
DuPont, www.dupont.com
Dri-Design, www.dri-design.com
