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2012 Design Award Grand Award

By Administrator In spite of the current economic crisis, the counselors of the Chihuahua’s Businessmen Foundation, or FECHAC for its acronym in Spanish, decided to build an “emblematic or iconic” headquarters in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, to show that the Foundation was in favor of investing in hard times, creating jobs and promoting their commitment… Continue reading 2012 Design Award Grand Award
By Administrator

In spite of the current economic crisis, the counselors of the
Chihuahua’s Businessmen Foundation, or FECHAC for its acronym in Spanish, decided to build an “emblematic or iconic” headquarters in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, to show that the Foundation was in favor of investing in hard times, creating jobs and promoting their commitment to show permanency and strength in difficult times.

Grand_Award_1“The goal was an emblematic building that had a meaning for the community, so we tied the shape of the building to the very core of the institution-their values-and tied to make an unique building,” says architect Ruben Escobar-Urrutia, LEED AP, Grupo ARKHOS, Ciudad Juárez, who designed the project with Ricardo Pacheco.

The foundation’s core values-giving, common good, solidarity and subsidiarity-are tied to the building’s four columns, which are wrapped in shimmering metal panels from Alcoa Architectural Products, Eastman, Ga. The tessellated aluminum panel volumes mark the office area and similar to four giant stone blocks, are permanent and unmovable. “As the core values of the foundation, they are not replaced or removed by time or events,” Escobar-Urrutia explains. “As a similitude with the stone heads on Easter Island, they watch over their people and their community.”

While the columns may be unchanging, the tessellated façade will change over time. Escobar- Urrutia explains that the façade will look different throughout the day, as the daylight hits the volumes at different angles, intensity and color. After the sun sets, a selection of LED color-changing lights will illuminate the façade with an array of shades and colors. “The two concepts reflect the ever-changing way of adapting to situations for the organization; the methods employed to solve or address problems change, but its values stay permanent,” describes Escobar-Urrutia. The architects chose aluminum for its inherent image of high tech, contemporary, cleanness and reflectivity, in addition to its low-cost maintenance. The project utilized 15,000 square feet of Alcoa’s 4-mm Reynobond aluminum composite panels in Silver Duragloss 5000, to cover the building’s columns. “The brightness of the metallic color and its reflections play a key role in the building image both during the day and throughout the night,” Escobar-Urrutia says. “On evenings the desert sun hits the columns with a golden glow that makes the sharp and aggressive building, somehow softer and warmer. Then at night that variation of how the building looks during the day is emphasized with a variation of colors that is constantly changing all night long.”

Grand_Award_2To get the aluminum panels to look exactly how they wanted, Escobar-Urrutia says that they had to train a group of carpenters, along with the general contractor, Ciudad Juárez-based Constructora MAYAB, to fold and install the panels, which came in 5- by 17-foot pieces. “We wanted sharp, straight edges, and the only way to do that was with folds, not joints,” he says.

Using a 3-D model, the structural support for the columns was designed on the ground, and then the secondary structure was added to attach the aluminum panels. From then, the one-piece facades were covered and the folds were marked for routing and cutting on-site. Once the aluminum panels were attached to the structure, the columns were lifted into place with a big crane. “This allowed us to reduce the construction times and costs, while reducing the risk of trying to install large pieces of aluminum with folds in several directions from on top of scaffolding structures,” Escobar-Urrutia explains. “On top of all this, using the panel sheets almost in one piece left us with very little waste, which we used on the sides of these tessellated elements as a design element, coming to less than 3 percent waste for the whole job on the aluminum elements.”

The smooth columns, which measure 40 feet high and 13 feet wide, give a rhythm to the façade, as they alternate with the windows covered with louvers from Hunter Douglas Contract, Norcross, Ga., which give the building some texture. Hunter Douglas supplied its Softwave 25 exterior screens for the northern wall of the banquet room area, and its Celoscreen 200 louvers to protect the building’s western façade from the sun.

“The building also represents our values as designers- innovation, sustainability and change,” says Escobar-Urrutia. These values are represented on the building’s green roof, which is organic and variable, and the color of the leaves and flowers on the plant selection that is a living mural, changing according to the seasons. “The garden on top of the lobby and over the maintenance area has a selection of plants and flowers that will be changing color or texture when seasons pass, acting as a living mural that is different every time you see it.”

Grand_Award_3In addition to the landscaping and green roofs, the 15,600-square-foot, two-story building features a variety of sustainable strategies, including double-pane windows from Ciudad Juárez-based Aluminio y Tecnologia de Chihuahua with low-E glazing from Viracon Inc., Owatonna, Minn.; variable air volume HVAC systems; and low-maintenance materials throughout. Escobar-Urrutia says that there is enough natural light throughout the office areas for employees to work during most of the day without any artificial lighting. Although the building is not LEED certified, it was designed using LEED-NC v3 as a guide.

“The building has become an icon and a part of the community and since its opening has hosted several events in the banquet room, has been the backdrop on high school and university class photos and even newlyweds have come for their studio pictures,” says Escobar- Urrutia. “At night, there are a parade of visitors and couples that park in front of the building to look at the varied chromatic effect that the LED lights offer.”

 

FECHAC Regional Office, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico

Completed: December 2011
Total square footage: 15,600 square feet
Architect: Grupo ARKHOS, Ciudad Juárez, www.grupoarkhos.com
General contractor : Constructora MAYAB, Ciudad Juárez, www.mayabconstruction.com
Hunter Douglas supplier and installer: Espacio Decoracion, Ciudad Juárez
Metal wall panel supplier: Metales Internacionales, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Metal wall panel installer: Grupo ARKHOS, Ciudad Juárez
Curtainwall/windows: Aluminio y Tecnologia de Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, www.altech.mx
Glazing: Viracon Inc., Owatonna, Minn., www.viracon.com
Louvers/sunscreens: Hunter Douglas Contract, Norcross, Ga., www.hunterdouglascontract.com
Metal wall panels: Alcoa Architectural Products, Eastman, Ga.,
www.alcoaarchitecturalproducts.com
Structural steel: Grupo DIPICSA, S.A. de C.V., Ciudad Juárez,