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The ‘floating staircase’ has been done many times before, but never like this.
Inside the recently expanded Henry Madden Library at Fresno State, Fresno, Calif., the grand staircase is built with stainless steel woven metal mesh. The slightly transparent nature of the mesh makes the staircase look like it’s floating-an aesthetic that has very rarely, if ever, been seen-especially using metal. This innovative use of material is one of many inside the sleek, high-tech library, but it seems to stand out more than the others.
The $105-million expansion includes more than 8 acres of floor space, making it one of the largest libraries in the 23-campus California State University system. Since reopening, millions of people have visited the library and taken in the architectural landmark: a five-story elliptical tower of steel, glass and wood; a four-story-high glass facade lit from within; a three-story video screen; and the metal mesh grand staircase.
The metal mesh for the staircase was provided by Banker Wire, Mukwonago, Wis. Designer AC Martin Partners Inc., Los Angeles, and Narduli Studio, Los Angeles, specifically chose the mesh pattern to match the motif of the building’s interior: a twined American-Indian cooking basket, conveying a tribal belief that baskets are containers of knowledge-perfect for a library.
“The Henry Madden Library project is exactly the kind of ambitious, out of the ordinary, custom project at which we excel,” says Michelle Eastburn, Product Engineering Manager for Banker Wire. “We were honored to contribute our unique material to a unique design with such a strong and symbolic metaphor.”
The grand staircase was constructed with Banker Wire’s DS-5 Opaque Weave in stainless steel. Its smooth and flowing four-wire opaque pattern produces a weave with constantly changing reflective characteristics at oblique angles. While categorized as an opaque weave, the DS-5 actually allows small slivers of light to filter through the wires. This makes for an interesting interior design material especially when there is a desire for subtle transparency. And in the case of the Henry Madden Library at Fresno State, it creates a ‘floating’ effect.
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The metal mesh industry is a very specialized one in which ready access to equipment, knowledge, and manufacturing techniques is very limited. The Banker Wire strategy has always been to improve and innovate, and to analyze successes and failures in light of disciplines such as statics, dynamics, metallurgy and mathematics. The company’s engineering staff is second to none with 60-plus years of combined engineering experience specific to the wire cloth industry. This experience was evident down to the most intricate details of the grand staircase inside the Henry Madden Library at Fresno State.
Other construction materials incorporated into the library’s design include granite and wood that reflect the natural resources found in the surrounding San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Nevada. Inside and outside, the structure is a visual showcase. It now dominates the Fresno State campus central landscape.
The Henry Madden Library at Fresno State is now larger, more dramatic, more useful, more accommodating and more comfortable than most libraries. In fact, it is now one of the finest libraries of its size in the country. And thanks to a roster of unique, beautiful and symbolic construction materials like Banker Wire metal mesh, its space is now more meaningful.
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Harrison Horan is the vice president of sales and marketing at Banker Wire, Mukwonago, Wis. To learn more, visit
www.bankerwire.com.