On Jan. 31, 2008, 50 years to the day after the launch of America’s first satellite, the Explorer 1, the new Davidson Center for Space Exploration at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., opened up. The new $22 million facility is home to one of the three remaining Saturn V lunar rocket vehicles. More than 1,400 dignitaries and guests, including Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin, Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter and Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, attended the grand opening gala event.
The 426-foot- (130-m-) long display of the Saturn V rocket, which had been stored at the site for 35 years, is the centerpiece of the 77,000-square-foot (7,153-m2) building. The first and second stages are pedestal-mounted, with the third stage, instrument ring, lunar module section and service module, and command module/escape tower suspended from the building structure. The dramatic display is visible to motorists traveling on the adjacent I-565 through 17,000 square feet (1,579 m2) of curtainwall glass that faces north and offers a unique view into the building both during the day and night times.
“Just about everything related to the overall building design centers on the display of the rocket,” said Jeff Miller, senior project architect for Gresham, Smith and Partners, Birmingham, Ala. “The sheer size of the rocket alone makes the building monumental, so the building was designed as a background, but with its own distinct visual homage to the Apollo space program.”
Approximately 85,000 square feet (7,897 m2) of Lewisville, Texas-based Metl-Span’s CF42 Light Mesa wall panels play a key role in the design of the center. The 2 1/2-inch (64-mm) insulated panels were finished with Polar White on the exterior and custom Matte Black on the interior to contrast with the gleaming Saturn V lunar rocket vehicle.
The Matte Black interior finish of the Metl-Span panels provided good visual effect for the rocket display, which is primarily white with red and yellow components and accents. “A great advantage of the Metl-Span panels is that we were able to clad the building, insulate it, and have both exterior and interior finishes in one application,” Miller said.
American Buildings Co., Eufaula, Ala., designed and manufactured the metal building, which is 476 feet (145 m) long, 90 feet (27 m) wide and 64 feet (20 m) tall, with a 360-seat auditorium, ticketing area, grand open stair with skylight, some related exhibit space and a large exterior plaza centered around a stand-up replica of the Saturn V. Turner Universal Construction, Huntsville, Ala., was the construction manager.
JWC Specialties Inc., Nashville, Tenn., installed the Metl-Span panels, erected the pre-engineered building and installed the five curtainwall sections. “The cladding was originally specified using 3-inch [76-mm] shadow panel, which is common on pre-engineered buildings.
But the job was value engineered to get the 2 1/2-inch [64-mm] Metl-Span insulated panels,” said Mike Johnson, president of JWC. “It was definitely an interesting project. We had to leave one end of the building open during construction in order to get the rocket into the building before we completed the job.”
American Buildings Co., www.americanbuildings.com
Metl-Span., www.metl-span.com
