Architect explores metal’s potential and unlimited options
Architect Nathan Casteel, AIA, LEED AP BD + C, finds art has no boundaries or constraints and that it is a complete personal experience. He spends much of his time painting and working with photography, and values them as personal creative outlets. He says that if he wasn’t an architect, he would undoubtedly be an artist. It was this love that first drew him to architecture’s creative opportunities and its rigorous processes. Casteel finds the use of metal in architecture to be a means of pushing innovation and design. Casteel found this passion for creation while studying architecture at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb., where he earned both his Bachelor of Science in Design and Masters of Architecture. While attending college, he interned with the Lincoln Planning and Construction Department where he provided concept design work for parks and recreation facilities and master planning for parks throughout the city.
Casteel also used summers as an opportunity to build character. “I spent many summers doing more tedious work,” he says, “from being a construction worker, chiseling concrete block in manufacturing facility, working in the fields detasseling corn, loading semis with bags of corn seed, to building ATVs in an assembly line. Doing hard labor has given me a great appreciation and respect for all walks of life. I’m thankful and lucky for what I’m able to do for a living today. I’m in a position to inspire and improve the way people experience their lives no matter who they are.”
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An integral material
His first full-time position in architecture was with Chicago-based DeStefano and Partners in 2002. He spent most of his two years there working on large, mixed-use development competitions overseas, much of which was in South Korea. “My first project was a high-rise condo tower just off of the river in Chicago,” he says. “One of my first tasks involved detailing a metal mesh screen around the parking garage. Many of our designs included unique metal cladding designs and mesh screening applications.”
Starting there and throughout his career, metal has been an integral material to virtually every project Casteel has designed. He contends the variety of wall system options it offers and its core economics provide a designer with many diverse options in terms of wall performance and aesthetics. “The material allows for unlimited options,” he explains. “Perforated metal has given me a design tool that serves both aesthetic and function purposes. It gives the skin of the building a changing image throughout the day. As the sun’s angles change, the level of translucency evolves from a veiling effect to almost complete transparency. Having a great deal of knowledge of metal as a material, I look forward to pushing the boundaries of how it’s currently used while exploring its potential, particularly with technological advances in custom perforations. In addition to a variety of options, the material has a multitude of sustainable features which is often overlooked. With sustainability becoming more and more a focus for designers, it’s important that we understand and provide examples of how the material can be utilized in this regard.”
Metal’s performance as part of an entire green assembly has been a core element in Casteel’s sustainable design focus. “We continue to become more sophisticated in our analysis of how our wall systems perform from an energy standpoint,” he says. “We are able to design high-performing wall systems based on façade orientation to maximize energy savings for our owners and clients. We’ve achieved great performance from metal rainscreen systems and insulated metal panel systems. Its durability, longevity, recycled content and ability to be recycled contribute to green benefits.”
Projects with metal
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In addition to working for DeStefano and Partners, Casteel has also worked for DLR Group’s Chicago office. He’s been given a tremendous amount of design control and freedom at a relatively young age. Having led designs for a variety of project types, he’s been given the chance to explore materiality while also gaining the knowledge of wall systems from a technical and economical perspective.
“At DLR Group, I’ve received a great deal of real design and construction experience with metal,” Casteel says. “We always start out by analyzing different wall cladding systems. We compare each wall system as it relates to performance and budget to make sure we’re providing the right solution for our clients.”
Most recently, the Lombard, Ill.-based Adjustable Forms Inc. office and warehouse project allowed Casteel to present some abstract applications of metal in a solid panel and a perforated sunscreen application. Metal contrasted and complemented the rawness of concrete that was used as the main form of the building. The final design has the project on track for a LEED Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. In addition to earning the 2014 Metal Architecture Design Award in the Ribbed Metal Wall Panel category, the project has also received the prestigious Chicago Building Congress Merit Award. As campus architects at Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill., Casteel and DLR Group have worked metal panels into a variety of projects. With the campus’ material standards of red brick and stone, he’s utilized metal to provide a contrasting, yet harmonious blend of materials that gives the aesthetic a balance of contemporary and traditional.
“On the (university’s) Neff Welcome Center, we restored and provided an addition to a limestone farmhouse that was originally constructed in 1852,” he says. “This building represented the very beginnings of the college and we wanted to preserve the building but give it a contemporary aesthetic. We utilized dark-colored metal roof systems and deep metal window insets to provide a stark contrast to the light-colored limestone while providing an image that reflects that of modern farm structures. Now under construction, the Benedictine University College of Business utilizes a champagne-colored and staggered insulated metal wall panel system to provide a sophisticated complement to the rough stone and brick materials.”
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A tremendous tool
Looking to the future, Casteel predicts metal in architecture will continue to experience a great deal of advancement in its use. “It’s fantastic to see new ways designers are using metal,” he says. “Innovations in the material’s use help keep architecture evolving and keep styles from becoming stagnant. Advancement in metal is allowing architects many more opportunities. The material easily allows for custom colors, different levels of finish, weathered looks, insulated panel systems, rainscreen systems, custom-perforated patterns, a variety of ribbed and mesh options, and custom 3-D shapes. The opportunities are endless and it’s up to us to push the boundaries of its use. It’s a tremendous tool to have to work with as a designer.”
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Arch Connect
What is the best advice you ever received as an architect?
Design for your client, not for yourself.
What’s on your iPod while you work?
Music is essential while I work and I have a long list of favorites. Here are a few: Conor Oberst, Ryan Adams, Wilco, The Avett Brothers, The Lumineers, Mumford and Sons, Jason Isbell, Bright Eyes, Joe Pug, The Velvet Underground, The National, Arcade Fire, Bob Dylan, Blind Pilot, M. Ward.
What do you do on weekends?
If I’m not at my daughter’s lacrosse games or practice, I like to spend time camping, hiking, biking or going to the beach with my family … anything outdoors as long as the weather is nice. Being in Chicago, you have to take advantage of those times. Painting and photography are my passions outside of architecture, so these consume a great deal of my free time.
What is your favorite book?
“The Fountainhead” … stereotypical designer response I suppose.
Where is your favorite place to vacation?
Northern California. We go camping there almost every year. I love the Highway 1 road trip, the redwood forests, the empty beaches and the quaint towns along the way. It’s a peaceful and good place to escape.
What historical figure would you most like to have dinner with and why?
Tough question; lots of people come to mind. Leonardo da Vinci would be an interesting person to have a conversation with. A painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer … he was the archetype of a renaissance man. I would like to understand how he was able to do so many different things and do them well. I strive to be a modern-day renaissance man, but find there are not enough hours in the day to do so. After dinner, I wouldn’t mind grabbing a drink with Picasso, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Johnny Cash, Bob Marley and John Lennon … I think that would be a guaranteed good time.
To future architects, what advice would you give?
People love stories. Every project has one, make sure to tell it.
Editor’s Note: After this article was written, Nathan Casteel accepted a position as an architect at Chicago-based GREC Architects.