The ex-Navy Seal and founder of BLACKHAWK! Products Group, Norfolk, Va., a leading U.S. manufacturer of tactical, military and law enforcement equipment, challenged the architect, HBA Architecture & Interior Design Inc., Virginia Beach, Va., to create a look for his new headquarters building that would “reflect the strength and ruggedness of our products.” The design for the 65,000-square-foot
(6,039-m2) facility accomplished the task and was awarded a 2008 AIA Award of Design Excellence.
The $7.5 million project strategically utilized 4,800 square feet (446 m2) of Citadel Envelope 2000 Rainscreen System panels finished in Bone White and Natural Copper by Citadel Architectural Products Inc., Indianapolis, to reflect the roots of the company and its philosophy of integrity, quality and innovation. Composite Wall Systems, Virginia Beach, installed the Citadel panels.
The curved roof recalls the curvature of a parasail while the supporting structural struts mirror its shrouds. Meanwhile, the buttresses impress upon the visitor the force of the company.
“I used the smoothness of the Citadel composite panels to add the appropriate textural contrast to the ruggedness of the Wisconsin ledge stone used for the two great buttresses that flank the building,” said David L. May Jr., AIA, architect of record. “The panels also gave the right combination of tension and lightness to the symbolic parachute canopy to complete the language of the building exterior.”
Citadel Natural Copper panels were used around the entrance to preview the extensive use of copper in the lobby reception area. Roof Services Corp., Virginia Beach, fabricated and installed 750 square feet (70 m2) of 26-ounce copper cladding from Revere Copper Products Inc., Rome, N.Y., that was bent and formed into cleated diamond-shaped panels used on the truncated cone in the lobby. The Incralac corrosion-resistant coating on the copper panels came from StanChem Inc., East Berlin, Conn. Baytech Metals, Virginia Beach, fabricated and installed 1,350 square feet (125 m2) of ALPOLIC, Chesapeake, Va., panels used on the interior ceiling of the boardroom. The 2- by 8-foot (0.6- by 2-m) panels had 3/4-inch (19-mm) holes punched in a square pattern and were installed with foam backing that gave the panels an acoustic-dampening property. Mid Eastern Builders Inc., Chesapeake, fabricated and installed 3,400 square feet (316 m2) of corrugated stainless-steel panels from Flexospan Steel Buildings Inc., Sandy Lake, Pa.
