Hidden Treasure: Curtainwall connects community center to nature

by Jonathan McGaha | November 30, 2014 12:00 am

Designed by 2WR + Partners[1], Columbus, Ga., the Harris County Community Center[2] in Hamilton, Ga., included developing a master plan for the 24-acre site that will serve as a public resource hub for the area. A new central library, tennis courts, athletic fields, learning gardens and walking trails are all part of the new master plan.

The center is located in a largely rural area with many farms and woodlands, rolling hills and fields, where metal buildings and barns dot the landscape. The building is first revealed at a distance from the highway before being hidden by a deliberately serpentine road following a tree-lined path, before being discovered again at a different scale. Backing up to the edge of the property is the Callaway forest preserve, prompting the use of large areas of windows overlooking the forest.

“The building expression was influenced by the regional agrarian buildings both in materiality and form,” explainsLee Martin, the project architect. “The recurring orange accent coloring throughout the project is an allusion to the native azalea that is indigenous to the forests of the region and is incorporated into the landscape design as well.”

The project’s modest $6.7 million budget prompted the design team to use a pre-engineered metal building from Butler Manufacturing[3], Kansas City, Mo., but in a form that transcends the metal building typology. “We worked with Butler to develop a mono-pitch roof with large southern elevation overhangs and large expanses of glass curtainwall,” explains Martin. “With a mix of standard pre-engineered building components and limited supplemental conventional steel framing, we were able to create a very unique building on a tight budget.” This simple and efficient plan contributed to the project’s low cost of $159 per square foot.

In addition to the metal building, the project features vertical standing seam metal panels by Butler and horizontal Box Rib metal wall panels from Fabral[4], Lancaster, Pa. Industrial Louvers Inc.[5], Delano, Minn., provided custom vertical sunshades, while Santa Monica, Calif.-based Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope[6] provided green horizontal sunshades for the front of the building and the storefront and curtainwall systems.

The 42,000-square-foot community center features a competition pool used by both the high school and community swim teams. The natatorium also has children’s water play elements and a sectioned-off area for pool parties. There are also two indoor basketball and volleyball courts with off-court areas that serve a double role as a large public event space. Classrooms provide the infrastructure for a variety of community events, while the meeting room, designed to allow for after-hours use, provides a more formal assembly space for community events.

According to Martin, a key concern shared by the owner and the architect was that the building’s activity zones would engage both one another and the circulation to facilitate the communal experience. Large expanses of internal glazing allow for the building’s activity to be easily read by the user. “The reception desk is placed at the crossroads of the building circulation with views to the gym, natatorium, and all corridor exits both for control and public engagement,” he explains. “The interior contains a playful design palette that spills out into a covered outdoor space. The edge of the exterior program space is formed by a ‘green wall’ [from GreenScreen[7], Los Angeles,] on the southern exposure that rises to meet a canopy of galvanized metal bar grating, providing shade for outdoor play during warm summer days.”

John Magazu, director of Harris County Recreation Department, notes that since its opening, there has been a steady stream of new members. In the first 18 months, they went from 0 to 5,000 members. “The new facility has been a great asset for the county,” he says. “People constantly rave about the building.”

 

Harris County Community Center, Hamilton, Ga.

Award: 2014 AIA Georgia Citation Award

Architect: 2WR + Partners, Columbus, Ga.

General contractor: Batson-Cook Co., West Point, Ga.

Structural engineer: Wright Engineering LLC, Columbus

Erector/installer: Rainwater Construction Co. Inc., Atlanta

Box Rib installer: Pierre Construction Group Inc., Stone Mountain, Ga.

Acoustical deck: Epic Metals Corp., Rankin, Pa., www.epicmetals.com[8]

Box Rib metal wall panels: Fabral, Lancaster, Pa., www.fabral.com[9]

Metal building/wall panels: Butler Manufacturing, Kansas City, Mo., www.butlermfg.com[10]

Modular trellis: GreenScreen, Los Angeles, www.greenscreen.com[11]

Sunshades/storefront/curtainwall: Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope, Santa Monica, Calif., www.oldcastlebe.com[12]

Vertical sunshades/louvers: Industrial Louvers Inc., Delano, Minn., www.industriallouvers.com[13]

Photographer: Harlan Hambright of H2O Creative Group, Brunswick, Ga.

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/hidden-treasure/

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