Lauded by judges for the 2020 Metal Architecture Design Awards as an elevation of civic architecture in a small town, Green Forest City Hall and Police Department facility in Green Forest, Ark., was praised for its artful assembly of industrial, durable materials with a modest budget of $2.1 million. The project was named winner of the Metal Buildings category.
Backlit, perforated panels and exposed framing add to modern, industrial look
Photo: Timothy Hursley
Metal and Masonry
Metal and masonry are assembled to complement each other. Modus Studio, Fayetteville, Ark., used a combination of brick, single-skin metal panels, perforated metal panels, a metal building with some exposed framing and other materials to create a modern, industrial appearance for the multipurpose building. Minimal trim adds crispness to the detailing of the metal panels.
Josh Siebert, Assoc. AIA, partner at Modus Studio, says, “We felt like the masonry has a permanence about it, and then we found a balance between masonry quantity and metal panel, because we believe metal panel looks beautiful, and done well, it can accent a part of the project.”
Photo: Timothy Hursley
The building is organized in three main parts: one side with a police department, one side with city hall, water department and courtroom, and a connecting corridor between the two sides. Also in between the two sides, there is an enclosed courtyard. Horizontal, backlit, perforated metal panels clad the top portion of the police department. Vertical panels clad lower portions of the buildings next to storefronts. The panels are gray, as is the brick used to clad the majority of the city hall side and some of the police department side.
“On the right side, the masonry was the stronger move,” Siebert says. “We liked the darker gray masonry, and that it should relate to downtown, vernacular architecture, and it has a little bit of color tone to pull some of the color of the metal panel out. What’s beautiful about it is both the masonry and the metal panels, over the course of a day, tend to change color. In certain times, it has more of a green hue, and sometimes more of a blue hue. And then on a clear day, it’s more of a gray hue, and so we wanted it to kind of feel like a chameleon.”
Photo: Timothy Hursley
Water Tower Connection
With respect to connecting the modern design with its environment, architectural details correspond to a historic water tower adjacent to it. Struts and cross bracing are repeated references, and the whole building itself is long and low to the ground, which contrasts with the water tower’s tall, vertical form. The water tower, built in 1937, was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
“You can see the cross members on the water tower and how strong they are as a part of the geometry, we really wanted to bring that back, and every little bit of that façade, whether it’s the structure holding the canopies or the ornamental gate frame in the courtyard, we wanted that tie to be almost as if when you built it, it was designed around and with the water tower in mind,” Siebert says. “Even though the water tower is from 1937, you wanted to feel as though if you were to start fresh, there’s a direct correlation.”
Photo: Timothy Hursley
Exposed Construction
Moreover, exposed framing expresses the building’s construction, Siebert says. “We really put a lot of time into the decision process of getting the well lit area combined with these three materials: metal panel, perforated metal panel and masonry. And combined with that, we tried to make sure we had very clean, taut lines and exposed structure, so that we told the story of construction. A lot of the structure is exposed throughout, and the reason is we really wanted the metal itself to play into the overall design. The building should be a reflection of how it was built.”
To build the multipurpose facility, Pineville, Mo.- based Crow Fabrications LLC erected Eufaula, Ala.- based American Buildings Co.’s single-slope rigid frame metal building system with parapet walls.
Photo: Timothy Hursley
For the uncovered, gated courtyard between the two sides of the building, in front of the connecting corridor, Springdale, Ark.-based Fig Tree Steel fabricated structural steel framing and supports. The general contractor, Lowell, Ark.-based Oelke Construction Co., built the courtyard.
At roofs for the two buildings and connecting corridor, Crow Fabrications installed American Buildings’ Standing Seam 360 roof system with a Galvalume finish.
To build the backlit perforated panel feature at the top of the police department building and courtyard, Crow Fabrications installed Allentown, Pa.-based ATAS International Inc.’s Gaten Series perforated metal wall panels in Charcoal Grey PVDF. At low sidewalls on the police department building, connecting the corridor and an entrance to the courthouse, Crow Fabrications installed ATAS’ Belvedere Short Rib metal wall panels in Charcoal Grey PVDF.