Theater Achieves Open and Unique Aesthetic

The new Writers Theater, located in Glencoe, Ill., designed by Studio Gang Architects, creates a space that brings energy to the town while maintaining an essence of transparency and fluidity. In 2016, Writers Theater packed up and moved to a new location in Glencoe, Ill., in order to perform in a larger space and attract additional followers. Decked with floor-length windows and open social spaces, collaboration is encouraged with the hope of better uniting people through theater. Located in the downtown area, the building reflects the theater company’s objective to maintain intimacy and audience involvement. The main theater seats 250 patrons with a second performance venu

Advances

Windows/Skylights

Triple-Loaded Windows

Combining extruded aluminum, vinyl and solid wood, Sierra Pacific’s new H3 FeelSafe storm-protected windows delivers energy efficiency, high performance, enhanced aesthetics and a high quality seal. With its innovative snap-lock design, installation is simplified with no need for screws or fasteners.

Case Study

Ceiling Systems

Casino Lobby Maintains Design

Pechanga Resort & Casino has undergone a major expansion that nearly doubled the size of the existing lobby and registration area. To maintain continuity of design with the existing lobby, the design team chose a custom linear metal ceiling in a wood-look finish. The growing popularity of the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif., triggered a major expansion that nearly doubled the size of the existing lobby and registration area.When designing the new addition, which features a glass atrium that streams daylight into the expanded lobby, the design team from Klai Juba Wald Interiors, of Las Vegas, was charged with incorporating some of the existing feature elements into t

Advances

Decking Products

Composite Decking

MoistureShield Vision deck and trim boards are made with an advanced manufacturing method that creates composite decking that closely resembles wood. It developed methods for applying pigments to randomizing the embossed grain pattern so no two boards are alike.Judge’s Comment: “The ability to minimize heat build-up under sun conditions as well as the lifetime warranty regardless of climatic conditions sets this product out among other composite boards.”

Case Study

Stair & Railing Systems

Safety and Better Views at a Sports Arena

Detroit’s Little Caesar Arena features glass and aluminum rails to provide spectator safety, and give them optimum views from higher seating arrangements. Giving new meaning to the term “upper level,” Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena features a unique gondola-style seating area that is suspended high above the playing area. This exceptional arrangement would not be possible, nor useful, without several hundred feet of strong, secure glass Track Rail provided by Trex Commercial Products.Home to the NHL’s Red Wings and NBA’s Pistons, Little Caesars Arena is located in The District Detroit and is designed to be one of the most intimate venues in both hock

Case Study

Flooring

Senior Living Community Helps Residents Feel Closer to Home

The Mooring on Foreside trades the bland, institutional décor of traditional senior living facilities for a calming New England cape aesthetic. The Mooring on Foreside prides itself in providing responsive, specialized care for individuals living with progressive memory loss. In order to offer residents suffering from these conditions effective care in a familiar environment, The Mooring’s owner enlisted Gawron Turgeon Architects of Scarborough, Maine to design the ideal facility.“The overall challenge for The Mooring project was to create a functional, residential scale, small house community with a New England cottage style aesthetic. We also had to offer the safety and durabil

AP ProductWire

November 13, 2019 by Alan Weis

The Cost of Doing Nothing

In the summer of 1993, many of the Midwest’s rivers flooded, including the Iowa River in Iowa City—a 100-year event. Fifteen years later, it happened again. If resiliency practices were incorporated, however, might such disasters be mitigated? Will larger coastal cities like Miami need to move or their populations flee at some point? Or undertake engineering on a massive scale to safely stay put? After all, consider the devastation that Super Storm Sandy brought on Lower Manhattan. What if, like Iowa City, the next 100-year flood happens fifteen years later, and the center of the financial universe is submerged again? It all comes back to mindfulness and planning ahead. “We know that it is less expensive to design resilient buildings and communities in advance of a natural or man-made event, than it is to rebuild after the fact,” says Nadja Turek, who serves as Woolpert’s research and development facilitator. “So we have to help clients make informed design choices with resiliency in mind as early in the planning and design process as possible.” The key to developing a resilience plan is understanding and addressing the specific issues for the project based upon site geographic location, climate zone, function served, demographics of the users, economic parameters and context within the surrounding community. Depending on your specific criteria, we've highlighted four case studies below that may provide insight on you next project.

Advances

Lighting & Controls

Urban Skyline

The strikingly original Skyline light, from global partner Santa & Cole and designed by Antoni Roselló, is an LED pathway light that brings international style with dramatic flair to lighting for architectural settings. A simple flat rectangular painted volume punctuated by a “window of light,” extends a warm welcome, defines the edges of spaces and pedestrian walkways, and signals wayfinding. It illuminates a footpath, stairway, and architectural elements, and provides opportunities for layered lighting. Skyline is available in two sizes with “windows” at different heights for ground applications, is manufactured of structural steel, and finished in bold red, blu

Case Study

Glass & Curtainwall

The Outdoor Connection

Guardian SunGuard glass products balance high performance with light transmittance and the right aesthetic at state-of-the-art Owego Elementary School. Architect Highland Associates were charged with replacing a structure destroyed by Tropical Storm Lee with a high-performing envelope that meets LEED Silver certification.“The spaces have a sense of relaxed vitality that comes only with a strong connection to the outdoors,” explains David Degnon, senior associate, Highland Assoc. “This would not be possible without the strategic use of specialized glass products such as Guardian SunGuard glass. With glass making up such a large part of the façade, the color and appearance ha

Advances

Glass & Curtainwall

Versatile Light Grey Glass that Balances Aesthetics and Performance

Solarshield Majestic Grey was developed in response to continued architectural demand for a light grey, neutral, tinted glass with a high visible light transmittance. It is available as a monolithic lite for use in laminated, tempered, heat-strengthened, bent configurations, or as part of an insulated glass unit. With a visible light transmittance of 65%, Majestic Grey further expands AGC’s widest range of products and is ideal for mid- to large-sized projects, presenting superior aesthetics for all design needs. Solarshield Majestic Grey can also be coated with an AGC ENERGY Select low-emissivity coating for optimal performance capabilities.

Architectural Products

Theater Achieves Open and Unique Aesthetic

Read the Digital Edition

Oct ’19

Triple-Loaded Windows

Casino Lobby Maintains Design

Composite Decking

Safety and Better Views at a Sports Arena

Senior Living Community Helps Residents Feel Closer to Home

AP ProductWire

The Cost of Doing Nothing

Urban Skyline

The Outdoor Connection

Versatile Light Grey Glass that Balances Aesthetics and Performance