The Crown Jewel of Main Street: Perforated Panels Overcome Lighting and Acoustic Challenges on Historical Building
by Jonathan McGaha | July 31, 2009 12:00 am
When the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., was planning to turn a historical downtown building into northeastern Pennsylvania’s newest incubator center, leaders wanted it to be more than the typical concrete and paint shell of most prefab commercial incubators.
“This was the building that housed one of the first F. W. Woolworth Five and Dime Stores in the country, so it was special to us and important to the revitalization of center city,” said John L. Augustine III, the chamber’s senior director of economic and entrepreneurial development. “We definitely wanted this landmark building on South Main Street to be a ‘crown jewel’ in the city’s redevelopment.”
Facing design challenges created by the building’s landlocked location, project manager James A. Bell Jr., AIA, of architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Wilkes-Barre, and the chamber called on nearby Diamond Manufacturing Co., in Wyoming, Pa. The group asked Diamond Manufacturing for help in adding some high-tech design features created with perforated metal that would be both aesthetic and functional.
“The Wilkes-Barre chamber purchased the building when the Woolworth Store closed in the 1980s,” Augustine explained. “It was vacant until 2000 when the chamber partnered with the Great Valley Technology Alliance to begin redevelopment of the structure as a high-tech business incubator.”
Incubator consultants recommended the basement and first floor be used for retail space, the second floor house the business incubator, and the third and fourth floors be turned into Class A office space. With no side or rear windows to use, the architects faced the challenge of getting daylight into the lobby and throughout the rest of the four floors.
“The chamber put us in touch with Diamond Manufacturing. By using perforated metal as the stair risers in the main entry, we were able to meet the code regulation of having closed risers yet maximized the amount of lightfiltering into the entrance lobby and stairwell, making the space brighter and more inviting,” Bell noted.
Diamond Manufacturing was also able to help solve a second design dilemma. The layout offered multiple two-story atria capped with south-facing clerestories and translucent roofs designed to bring light into upper-level conference rooms. Interior windows were used to spread this light among nearby rooms. All these hard surfaces of glass, while sharing light, created acoustical challenges.
Diamond Manufacturing’s Acoustax division makes a patented line of lightweight, sound barrier panels that are perforated with sound absorption material. By cutting these standard panels into geometric shapes and painting them to match the interior furnishings, the architects were able to install sound-deadening wall panels that looked like pieces of artwork.
The $6.2 million renovation resulted in a transformation that has earned the building numerous state and national awards and recognition as a best practice building for reuse, including a Community Development & Improvement Award by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Nonprofit & Community Assistance Center and a Silver Commonwealth Design Award, recognizing design excellence and responsible development in Pennsylvania. The building also received a Special Recognition Award from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
“It was designed not just as a business shell but to unite energy, ideas, talent and expertise. Its location in a KOZ (Keystone Opportunity Zone) designated area, as well as a HUB Zone, provides a variety of tax incentives to potential tenants,” Augustine said. There is currently 15,000 square feet (1,294 m2) of Class A office space.
The newly named Innovation Center @ Wilkes-Barre houses the country’s first joint collegiate and general trade Barnes & Noble Bookstore, serving the students of King’s College and Wilkes University, as well as the local community. Designed for business start-ups, there are 14 companies sharing the second-floor technology-based incubator space. The third floor has two large e-commerce companies in Class A office space.
“Without Diamond helping solve numerous critical acoustical issues caused by the windows, concrete floors and the steel ceiling, the project would not have been nearly as successful,” Augustine added. “We had even purchased white noise systems to help address the problems, and they didn’t work nearly as well as the Acoustax panels.”
Karen B. Kelly is marketing manager for Diamond Manufacturing Co., Wyoming, Pa. Visit www.diamondman.com for more information.
Innovation Center
@ Wilkes-Barre, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Architect: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Wilkes-Barre
Owner: Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry
Redevelopment partner: Great Valley Technology Alliance, Wilkes-Barre
Panel installer: Mid-Valley Contracting Services Inc., Olyphant, Pa.
Contractor: Sordoni Construction Services Inc., Forty Fort, Pa.
Perforated panels: Diamond Manufacturing Co., Wyoming, Pa.
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/the-crown-jewel-of-main-street-perforated-panels-overcome-lighting-and-acoustic-challenges-on-historical-building/