The Ivy League Treatment: Stainless-steel wire mesh sheds light at Yale
by Jonathan McGaha | July 31, 2010 12:00 am
While planning Rosenkranz Hall at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., the design team faced a unique challenge when it came to creating the atrium of this newly opened social sciences building.
The architectural firm, Koetter Kim & Associates of Boston, wanted to incorporate a guardrail for the atrium’s stairways, pedestrian bridges and perimeter pathways that was functional, yet aesthetically pleasing and compatible with the building’s modern features of glass, limestone and metal.
Because the four-level, 70,000 square-foot (6,503-m2) academic building is constructed on a narrow strip of land and lacked space for traditional stairs and passageways, the firm designed the atrium in the center of the building as a focal feature to optimize connectivity between floors.
To maximize the atrium’s natural light, the stairway and walkways needed a guardrail infill panel with light-diffusing characteristics in a material that matched other elements of the building, particularly the aluminum mullions featured prominently on the door frames and expansive windows.
Built to house classrooms and offices for faculty and graduate students, the academic hall gets constant foot traffic from students flowing in and out toting backpacks and computer satchels. Safety and durability, along with light transmission, were key factors in their search for the right guardrail infill material.
While the architect could have chosen an infill panel that follows the line of the stairs, “we wanted to keep the vertical parts of the wire fabric truly vertical and parallel to the railing posts,” said Tom Beddall, AIA, project manager for Koetter Kim & Associates.
Creating the Angles
Familiar with Tampa, Fla.-based McNICHOLS’ products, the architectural firm turned to this specialty metal company to locate a material that is durable and has a highly decorative open weave with a vertical orientation. Such are the characteristics of McNICHOLS’ decorative custom Aura stainless-steel wire cloth, which is popular for designs requiring a high-end look. The design called for 95 panels in 19 various sizes totaling 1,000 square feet (93 m2) of wire mesh product.
Many of the infill panels along the walkways and connector bridges were horizontal; however, the angular stairway infills required special fabrication to achieve the angle necessary to match the stair rail posts.
To create the slant, the Aura wire mesh product was cut into virtual parallelograms approximately 3 to 4 feet (0.1 to 1 m) in width and height. These specialty shapes, along with the horizontal shapes, were assembled into a versatile spine framing system comprised of three metal bars.
No Welding Required
The middle bar was fabricated with laser cut holes that were designed to match the diameter and pattern of the trimmed wire mesh spines. The mesh spines were then inserted into the pre-cut holes in the center bar, with the center bar sandwiched between two outer bars. The result is a fully enclosed casing for the wire mesh that conceals the raw edges.
The process is a stylish alternative to the traditional infill panel framing because it needs no welding and produces a clean look with each panel appearing to be made as one piece.
Special mounting tabs were incorporated into the center spine’s section, making it easy to use standard glass mounting hardware.
A Unique Building
Open less than a year, the building on Yale’s New Haven campus is home to the college’s Political Science Department, the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, and programs of the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. The hall is named after its major donor, Robert Rosenkranz, a Yale graduate who is the CEO of the Delphi Financial Group.
Constructed as a joint venture by Giordano Construction, Branford, Conn., and Hunt Construction Group, Scottsdale, Ariz., the building occupies a unique spot on the school campus. It is the first building to link the main campus and Science Hill campus.
Mary Estes is the principal of Estes & Co., a communications firm based in Tampa, Fla. She contributes articles to trade publications in a variety of industries including construction, design, public safety, technology and health care.
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/the-ivy-league-treatment-stainless-steel-wire-mesh-sheds-light-at-yale/