Trade winds patterns inspired a folded metal façade that projects from a parking garage in Honolulu. The parking garage is part of Ae'o Tower, a mixed-use, high-rise building.
Folded aluminum panels create projections on perforated façade
Photo: Kamil Schuetz Photography
In terms of the design for the tower and parking garage, David Miller, AIA, associate principal at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ) Architects in Seattle, says, “Influenced by abstracting the dynamism and force of the typical flow of the Hawaiian trade winds, surfaces peel away from the mass of the building as a physical manifestation of the trades’ energy, shielding occupants leeward towards the Makai (ocean) views. The design for Ae’o is inspired by the rich and varied history of the Kaka’ako district and celebrates the idea of flow. This concept inspired the form of the building, including the podium parking screen façade.”
The parking garage spans the entire podium of the project. The folded aluminum façade breaks down the scale of the seven-story, 580,000-square-foot parking garage. “The metal screen was designed to provide human-scaled detail and interest to diminish the otherwise massive scale of the parking component of the project,” Miller says.
To develop the patterns, Miller explains, “The form was created by overlaying a diagram of the Hawaiian trade winds over a drawing of the parking façade. Various lines from the map were chosen to be raised areas of the screen to create a visual composition.”
The parking garage is part of Ae’o Tower, a mixed-use, high-rise building. Photo: Andrea Brizzi
To design the parking garage’s façade, designers needed to strike a balance between creating forms that mimic trade winds patterns and an economical construction process to make it fit the budget.
Michael Henderson, project architect at BCJ Architects, says, “The panel sizes and number of shapes were limited to keep costs within budget and to ensure shapes were easily formable without complex geometries. We used a parametric script within our design program, Revit, to generate the wind lines using a menu of predetermined panel shapes. Several digital and physical models were then developed to prove the concept and refine the final design.”
Most of the perforated aluminum panels are flat. For the panels that are folded, custom profiles were fabricated. David Killian, vice president at Everett, Wash.-based NorthClad Rainscreen Solutions, says, “There are about 45 custom profiles used over and over. About 70% of the panels are the flat profile.”
NorthClad produced the panels with several machines. “Both the flat panels and the angled panels all started on a CNC punch,” Killian says. “The shapes were cut, and the holes were punched. After, the flat panels went to a CNC panel bending machine. Here, the top and bottom flanges were formed to keep the panel ridged. The angled panels went to a CNC brake press. At the brake, each angle of each panel was bent and end caps were fixed to the panels.”
A diagram of typical wind patterns around the Hawaiian Islands was used to develop the folded aluminum façade design. Image courtesy of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects
To complete the façade, Northshore Exteriors Inc., Honolulu, modified some panels and fabricated flashings and trims. Northshore installed 80,000 square feet of NorthClad’s Designer Series 0.125-inch-thick perforated aluminum. The majority of the panels are coated with Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries Inc.’s Duranar Sunstorm fluoropolymer extrusion coating in Cashmere Pearl. Additionally, NorthClad’s panels finished with a Duranar coating in custom Neon Red and painted aluminum mullion system to support the panels were used.
Perforations of the panels were specified to meet functional and aesthetics requirements. “The garage was designed as open-air with no mechanical ventilation; therefore, the panel perforation percentage was carefully designed to allow for natural ventilation,” Miller explains. “The perforations also give the screen a different character from day to night. During the day the garage appears more solid as it is lit from the exterior. At night portions of the garage become more transparent as it glows from within revealing its utilitarian use.”
In addition to the perforated panels, movement of vehicles in the parking garage also changes the façade’s appearance. “Carving space at the ground floor corners of the building creates community gathering places and building entries while vortices are made visible by the movement of vehicles up parking ramps,” Miller adds.
Furthermore, planted terraces form a transition between the parking garage and street level, and communicate where entrances are located. “The podium is activated further by planted terraces that allude to the lush vegetation along the Ko’olau range and fill the voids while screening the parking,” Miller explains. “The planted terraces visually connect the vibrant and living elements and draws interest along the façade, while signifying the entry and gathering places at street level.”
Ae’o Tower is a mixed-use, high-rise building with 466 residences and, at its base on the southeast and southwest sides, there is 79,000 square feet of retail space. The parking garage is used by residents of Ae’o Tower on the Ewa (west) side. The Diamond Head (east) side of the garage is used by shoppers of a grocery store in the building and other people in the Ward Village community.