Custom sunshades outfit health centers
by Jonathan McGaha | October 31, 2008 12:00 am
Accurate Perforating, Chicago, provided nine levels of custom, perforated sunshades for two California health centers designed by international health care architects, Anshen + Allen, San Francisco.
The 59,000-square-foot (5,481-m2) Valley Health Center in Gilroy, Calif., and the 45,000- square-foot (4,181-m2) facility in Sunnyvale, Calif., were designed to be the ideal settings for medical service providers. The facilities’ highly functional interiors provide welcoming, comfortable spaces for patients and occupants that blends with rich, aesthetic exteriors. The exteriors come to life through the use of glass and aluminum fascias featuring unique semicircular main entrances and an intricate aluminum structure that holds custom-designed sunshades.
Architectural Glass and Aluminum, Alameda, Calif., was responsible for the construction and design elements of the external glass and aluminum structure for the buildings. Accurate Perforating’s design pattern of straight perforations across the panels worked well for the straight sections of the building, however, AGA wanted something more for the curved glass atrium on the Sunnyvale Health Center’s main entrance. Accurate Perforating designed a pattern that had the perforations fanning out to match the building’s curvature. This pattern required a sophisticated CNC turret press machine to punch the holes individually. A state-of-the-art laser system was used for the complex finishing of the panels.
Accurate Perforating had to stamp customer supplied construction numbers on each panel to identify the proper installation location on the building. A special mounting bracket was required for the curved panels’ installation to match the unique curvature of the building. Accurate Perforating incorporated an advanced welding process to guarantee the sunscreens would hold up under the harshest conditions and each panel would be durable enough to withstand years of Northern California’s weather and earthquakes. The brackets were welded to the panels and underwent environmental testing to make sure they could endure the extent of the weather.
Accurate Perforating, www.accurateperforating.com
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/custom-sunshades-outfit-health-centers/