Diagonal reveals run across vertical, corrugated metal panels on the exterior of Collage Dance company in Memphis, Tenn. Contrasting with the vertical and angled reveals, a curved entrance archway establishes a visual focal point. Also, a congregating plaza extends in front of the building. At the top, the building’s roofline rises and lowers at corners and forms overhangs. For these features and more, judges recognized the project with the 2021 Metal Architecture Design Award in the Ribbed Metal Wall Panels category.
Corrugated metal, diagonal reveals create dramatic design
Photo courtesy of archimania
Diagonal Reveals
The diagonal reveals are part of what Kayce Williford, AIA, senior associate at archimania in Memphis, calls the crown of the building. It has a weighted, masonry base topped with a metal-clad structure, where the reveals cross diagonally over vertical, corrugated metal panels. The metal-clad crown served two purposes: it draws attention from pedestrians and roadway traffic, and it conceals step-ups and step-downs in the roof and HVAC equipment.
“We had talked about it being a crown on the building,” Williford says. “We talked about that as adding a dynamism to the structure, especially bringing your eye up. And the whole parapet system we used to hide some of the stepping up and down of the interior space.”
The diagonal reveals correspond to the parapets, which rise at corners and places where they conceal the rooftop and lower in other places.
“Those diagonal lines helped us in crafting and shaping the parapet in a more sculptural way so it bows and rises at the street corner where it gets really close to people in their cars and pedestrians, which is more of a joyful notion, and extends out over the glass on the southern side to protect the studio glass from harsh southern light. So, we’re using those diagonal lines to start regulating what the parapet is doing in different ways.”
Specifically, Williford says, “The intent really is we’re trying to bring emphasis to a couple different points of the building. We use those lines to raise and lower the parapet for reasons of visual emphasis, but also for screening what’s behind it in certain places. So, you’ll see where it dips, we don’t need the screen as much and some places where it rises, we’re screening a little bit more.”
Photo courtesy of archimania
The diagonal reveals are derived from the Collage Dance’s logo, which features a capital letter C with diagonal lines going across it, suggesting a collage with a variety of pieces forming a whole.
“We did not copy verbatim their logo, but took the spirit of it and wanted to have a light version of that branding within the building,” Williford explains. “We took those diagonals and started using them as regulating lines that would adjust the height of the parapets so that there would be some dynamic nature there.”
The diagonal reveals are 7/8-inch deep and are formed with drip trims. To build the reveals, Williford says they made mockups with Ralph Jones Sheet Metal Inc., Gallaway, Tenn. “There’s a drip trim for the Galvalume above it and the same for that below it, and it kind of creates a really thin little T,” she says.
Ralph Jones Sheet Metal fabricated and installed 8,500 square feet of Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based Petersen Aluminum Corp.’s PAC-CLAD 24-gauge, 7/8-inch corrugated metal panels with a Galvalume Plus finish. They also fabricated and installed black sheet metal for the diagonal reveals.
Photo courtesy of archimania
Archway and Plaza
In addition to the metal crown of the building, another big feature that draws attention is an entrance archway that opens to a plaza that continues across the front of the building.
“The archway was certainly meant to be a contrast to the rest of the building,” Williford says. “Because our site faces a busy street corner and its topography encouraged the siting of the building to hug that corner, it was important to provide a safe and protective drop-off, entrance and exterior space for the dancers and students. This meant that the front of our building sits internal to the site. The plate steel archway intentionally breaks the otherwise rigorous boundary between the brick and the Galvalume metal with a language that is intentionally foreign to the straight lines of the building. It’s a moment of celebration, brings attention to the building’s entrance from the street and recalls the feeling of movement and elegance of a Collage dancer.”
Williford says the dance company had a goal to remain strongly connected to the Binghampton neighborhood, where its previous location was located, and facilitate community engagement.
“The plaza is another gesture that underscores Collage’s mission of breaking down the barriers to fine art and ballet, making it accessible to the local community. When you pass through that archway as an employee, company dancer or first-time student, the heroic scale of that threshold has a way of putting visitors into a new mindset when they pass under it. It’s a really wonderful anchor to the public plaza that extends from the entrance toward Tillman Street, which Collage Dance has already put to use for outdoor performances.”