Photo: ajbrownimaging.com
HDR Inc. designed six triangular roof forms with a standing seam roof system for Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s Burr Ridge Outpatient and DayRehab Center.
The standing seam metal roof with angled panels looks like wings in flight. The low-slope roof also generates room for clerestory windows that provide interior daylighting.
The outpatient and rehabilitation facility offers a variety of therapies to two types of patients. Some patients come for routine outpatient physical therapy or other services; others require more intensive, half- or full-day sessions.
The varied interior functions are reflected in the building’s exterior, which comprises three major volumes. Interior functions are indicated by projecting bays along the façade and the arrangement of angled roof panels.
Breaking the exterior elevation into smaller pieces also met another project goal; it reduced the building’s visual impact. Residents living in an adjacent neighborhood were concerned the facility might appear too commercial for its location.
Tom Lee, AIA, NCARB, design principal at HDR, says, “We did that by the use of materials—wood and brick—and scale.”
The roof design also broke up the exterior elevation and reduced the building’s commercial appearance. “We did these sorts of folded roofs on each of the volumes that help get light into the therapy spaces, and giving the building a pitched roof gives it a more residential character,” Lee says.
The Weathered Zinc color of the metal roofing was specified to coordinate with Brazilian hardwood wall cladding on the exterior that will turn gray over time. Lee says he expects the wood cladding’s blond tones to age into a color closer to the metal roof’s color. “We actually rendered the building in both the new condition and in the silvery-gray that would work well with the metal,” he says.
The project utilized 22,500 square feet of Petersen Aluminum Corp.’s 24-gauge steel Tite-Loc Plus roof panels in Weathered Zinc. Additionally, 3,800 square feet of Petersen’s PAC-750 metal soffit panels in Weathered Zinc and 1/8-inch-thick metal column covers in Weathered Zinc were used. Krusinski Construction Co. was the general contractor, and All American Exterior Solutions installed the metal panels.
The 25,000-square-foot Burr Ridge Outpatient and DayRehab Center is located in a western suburb of Chicago and is connected with Ryan AbilityLab’s anchor inpatient location in downtown Chicago.
