Metal panels in custom Red clad a section of a parking deck above the main entrance to õLiv Tempe mixed-use building at Arizona State University.
Cristina McMahon, senior associate at Antunovich Associates, says, “Our client’s exact phrase for describing their exterior design goal was ‘tower of Babylon.’”
Antunovich Associates broke up the expanse of metal along multiple parking deck floors by adding vertical strips of steel boxes in a Charcoal finish that look vaguely like windows.
On the garage, Global Roofing Group installed Petersen Aluminum Corp.’s 22-gauge steel PAC-CLAD Precision Series Highline M1 panels in custom Toile Red. For trim around the garage and other areas, Global Roofing Group installed Petersen’s Highline M1 panels in Charcoal Gray.
McMahon says, “Using metal wall panels next to softer materials, in this case, the EIFS of the building’s tower, creates an eye-catching visual juxtaposition. On this project, the panels are used to clad the parking garage because programmatically these levels must withstand more abuse than the exterior cladding of the tower.”
õLiv Tempe has 268 student residential units, street-level retail spaces and a gym, spa, clubroom and rooftop pool.
“The parking structure is quite long and the introduction of a new material and pattern in its cladding serves to break up the façade,” McMahon says. “This change in material also occurs directly over the building’s main entry, naturally providing a wayfinding device for pedestrians.”
