Anticipated to reach LEED Platinum Certification, the Mirabella Retirement Community is located in the heart of Portland’s South Waterfront. The project was completed in October 2010, and features a black anodized custom-designed aluminum railing system, aluminum trellis and a matching barbeque canopy from Portland-based Sapa Architectural Products.
The custom-designed top rail has a flat top with a 4 percent inward slope, allowing for easier water run-off. The infill consists of 1/8-inch stainless steel cable. A heavier wall bottom rail extrusion was needed because of the tension in the cable runs. The project plans required three custom aluminum trellises to be design. Sapa’s design team used SolidWorks to create a visual 3-D model of each custom trellis and barbeque canopy. Each trellis was built with 6-inch square aluminum posts and Epi wood across the top. To remain consistent with the railing system, the trellis was anodized black. The barbeque canopy was designed using 1/2-inch clear laminated and tempered glass.
In addition to allowing for a certain ease of manufacturability and design flexibility, the aluminum products from Sapa earned LEED points for regional manufacturing and regional extraction. Aluminum’s recyclability, along with the extruder using 25 percent recycled aluminum also contributed LEED points.
The project utilized Sapa’s in-house capabilities for design, drafting, engineering, extrusion, anodizing, fabrication and installation. Having these resources with one supplier allowed the construction manager the flexibility and reliability with construction schedule challenges, rather than having to deal with several different companies. Ankrom Moisan, Portland, was the architect, and Hoffman Construction Co., Portland, was the construction manager.
Sapa Architectural Products,
www.sapaap.com
