Metal panels adorn high-tech college building

by Jonathan McGaha | July 31, 2011 12:00 am

The new Central Community College Health and Science Education Center in Grand Island, Neb., is the latest addition to the college’s expanding campus. Providing traditional classrooms, lecture halls and laboratories, the 44,000-square-foot facility is also equipped with high-tech “distance learning” capabilities to allow interaction with instructors and students at other locations throughout the Central Community College system.

Approximately 12,500 square feet of 0.08-aluminum panels in Crystal Ice from Dri-Design, Holland, Mich., were used on the project in both exterior and interior applications.

Wilkins Hinrichs Stober Architects, Kearney, Neb., provided design for the project. “The building is linked to other campus structures that utilize a material palette of traditional masonry and metal,” according to Rod Randolph, project architect. “We used those materials on the exterior as well as actually bringing them to the interior of the building. We also employed a significant wood canopy in the large gathering area to bring the space down to scale. The material mix on the interior delivers a high-tech feel yet creates a comfortable, inviting environment.”

Installation of the Dri-Design panels was done by SGH Inc., Omaha. “Not only did we have the Dri-Design, we also installed the sunshades and the curved ACM that integrated with the Dri-Design soffits and the vertical window mullions,” says Jeremy Zerzan, project manager. “There was a tremendous amount of joint layout on our end as well as Dri-Design’s to get the proper size panels to match all of the elements. It was one of the more challenging jobs we’ve done but it really turned out great.”

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/metal-panels-adorn-high-tech-college-building/

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