An innovative approach: Perforated metal panels are used to create the look of quilts
by Jonathan McGaha | April 30, 2010 12:00 am
“The perforated metal south façade is my favorite aspect of the building. It was such an innovative approach to solve a wide variety of design challenges. To see the finished product just as we imagined it is very rewarding.”
So said Kevin M. Turner, AIA, LEED AP, associate principal with The Freelon Group, Durham, N.C.,when discussing the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts and Culture in Charlotte, N.C. The south façade of the center is innovative because the Freelon team, partly inspired by quilts in the center’s collection, created the illusion of quilts draped over the façade.
Quilting’s historical significance comes from tales that explain that a safe house, during the time of the Underground Railroad, was designated when a quilt depicting a log cabin with a black center for the chimney was hung in a house’s window. Also, the path of the Underground Railroad was said to be indicated by quilts with variations of Jacob’s Ladder. Freelon used the quilting pattern for Jacob’s Ladder as a generative device for the design of the building’s skin.
The architects studied how various building materials could architecturally mimic the quilting fabrics, and they found their answer in perforated metal panels from Fabral, Lancaster, Pa.
“In the end, the perforated metal allows just enough transparency for light to filter to the layer of metal behind it, creating softness out of a hard material. The partial visibility of the vertical girts behind the panels, overlaps at seams, and lines of exposed fasteners reinforce the notion of quilt as façade,” Turner noted.
About 30,000 square feet (2,787 m2) of Hefti-Rib, a horizontal exposed-fastener panel, was used. The 0.040-aluminum panels have a Flurobond high definition coating in two custom Copper colors. The perforations are 3/8-inch (10-mm) diameter and 1/4-inch (6-mm) diameter holes. Valspar, Minneapolis,was the coating manufacturer, and the panel distributor was Architectural Products Specialist Inc., Loganville, Ga.
Additional steps were needed to make the building watertight behind the architectural perforated panels. “We started with a basic rainscreen assembly and added an additional layer of metal behind the cladding to act as a drainage plane and to protect the insulation and weather barrier from UV and direct exposure to the elements,” Turner noted. “All of the elements of the assembly had to be constructed in a way that did not allow the fasteners to compromise the weather barrier.”
The 45,940-square-foot (4,268-m2), four-story facility opened in October 2009 and strives to present, preserve and promote African American art. It was named after former Charlotte Mayor HarveyB. Gantt and replaces the former Afro-American Cultural Center. The new facility is part of a mixed use development that aims to revive Brooklyn, the downtown Charlotte area that once was a vibrant African American neighborhood. The associate architect was Neighboring Concepts, Charlotte, N.C.
“An aspect of working at Fabral that continues to inspire me is seeing aluminum coil turn into dramatic designs that are in their own right pieces of art,” said Dave Brown, director of sales and marketing for Fabral’s Architectural Systems Division. “Freelon was inspired by the center’s collection, as well as African American history, and Fabral is proud to be part of the resulting inspirational design of the Harvey B. Gantt Center.”
Daisy Lilley is marketing manager of Fabral, Lancaster, Pa. Visit www.fabral.com for details.
Alcan Composites USA Inc., www.alucobondusa.com
Fabral, www.fabral.com
Linetec, www.linetec.com
Protean Construction Products Inc., www.protean.com
Valspar, www.valspar.com
Artistic, African heritage reflected in Gantt Center
Celebrating the contributions of Africans and African-Americans to American culture, the new Harvey B.Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture in Charlotte, N.C., also features metal cladding from Protean Construction Products Inc., Burnsville, Minn.
Distributed by Architectural Products Specialist Inc., Loganville, Ga., Protean supplied 2,620 square feet (243 m2) of AP-COL 0.125-inch- (3-mm-) thick, rolled aluminum, column cover and formed, beam wraps. An additional 6,240 square feet (580 m2) of ACM-100 Composite Metal Wall panels that were formed from Mooresville, N.C.-based Alcan Composites USA Inc.’s 0.16-inch
(4-mm) Alucobond material was used. Wausau, Wis.-based Linetec finished Protean’s metal components using Minneapolis-based Valspar’s two coat Fluropon Classic II Silversmith paint.
Additionally, APS supplied 4,000 linear feet (1,219 m) of its custom extruded aluminum fins with a Kynar finish in Silversmith Metallic, and 1,500 square feet (139 m2) of its0.05-inch (1-mm) aluminum custom fabricated light boxes with a Valspar Fluropon Classic II Kynar finish in Silversmith.
Batson Cook Co., West Point, Ga., served as the general contractor for the $18.8 million project, which is a key component of Phase One of Charlotte’s Cultural Arts Facilities Master Plan.
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/an-innovative-approach-perforated-metal-panels-are-used-to-create-the-look-of-quilts/