A Water Celebration

A new scalable climate adoption system, Climate Tile, equips side-walks with capabilities that not only treat water, but celebrate water as a valuable resource.Climate Tile is a new scalable climate adoption system for future cities. It couples traditionally separate functions. It transforms future sidewalks to collect and manage water, while contributing to the growth of urban nature and improved microclimates. It equips sidewalks with a set of additional capabilities that treat water in a technical manner, and conserve water as a valuable resource.The system can catch and redirect the additional projected 30% rainwater due to increased precipitation from climate change. It prevents ov

Advances

Doors/Entry Systems

Elliptical Door Swing

Featuring an innovative new elliptical door swing that increases usable floor space as the door is drawn inward when swinging open, C.R. Laurence introduces Clear Space. The unique design incorporates a top door guide that automatically folds away from the opening and stacks parallel to the sidewall to provide unobstructed entry. The upshot is door outswing projection is reduced by approximately 45% for a typical 36-in. wide opening.

Case Study

Flooring

Hospital Addresses Safety and Aesthetic Concerns

Rockville Hospital boasts a strong behavioral health unit that provides support and specialized, sophisticated services for many areas of mental health, including addictions, anxiety, depression and other counseling. As part of its renovation, Rockville Hospital was looking for flooring that would provide safety and aesthetics for patients and visitors alike. Jeff Lawton, Moser Pilon Nelson Architects, worked with Rockville hospital to select flooring, and ultimately chose Altro Wood, Altro Aquarius and Altro Whiterock products for use throughout the unit. The project had originally called for other alternatives, but Jeff Lawton, a fan of Altro products, thought they might be better sui

Advances

Wall Coverings

Greater Impact Resistance

VersaGuard performs in high-traffic corridors and public spaces, shielding walls from wear and the impact of rolling traffic such as desk chairs, carts and gurneys. The wall protection is highly resistant to soiling and tough stains. When cleaning is needed, stringent agents such as bleach or rubbing alcohol can be used. It includes 30% recycled content and is NSF 342 certified. It has a long lifecycle even in extreme applications and maintains a clean, attractive appearance for many years.

Case Study

Exterior Panels/Cladding

Articulation Curbs NYC "Dirt Factor"

433 Broadway walks a fine line between historic form and modern function, visually blending in to Manhattan’s historic SOHO district. Owned by Cubico, it is the first building entirely devoted to shared workspace constructed from the ground up. With this came a host of design challenges to allow varied companies to coexist—and thrive—within the same workspace. “Because it is being used by any number of different people, we wanted it to be as general and anonymous as possible,” says Nelson Vega, Associate Principal, AIA, RKTB Architects. RKTB also set out to avoid enclosed spaces that would block daylight from getting deep into each floor, with a lot of interior

Case Study

Glass & Curtainwall

Mixed-Use Mastered in Downtown Montreal

50-story residential tower features more than 434,000 square feet of high-performance, Low-E coated glass L’Avenue is a mixed-use, high-rise building located in the heart of downtown Montreal. The 50-story residential tower houses 304 apartment units, commercial office space currently occupied by ‘WeWork’, retail space, a café at grade, and a ‘Provigo’ grocery store.Designed by Toronto-based firm, IBI Group, L’Avenue is the pinnacle of luxury living. Residential amenities are located on the 9th floor, which is also the first tower floor, and they were designed to offer a resort-like experience for inhabitants. The building is located advantageously, r

AP ProductWire

August 15, 2019 by Barbara Horwitz-Bennett

Passively Cool

As the fastest growing end-use in buildings, energy allotted for cooling has doubled since 2000, according to the International Energy Agency. Concurrently, codes and green building rating programs are pushing buildings to pare down their HVAC loads. As a result, architects are paying much more attention to non-mechanical design strategies for accomplishing just that. So how? There are a number of strategies, many of them passive solutions: optimized building orientation; shading; cool and green roofs; natural ventilation—and even landscape design—can help bring cooling loads down. While cost savings and enhanced sustainability are the most transparent payoffs, these strategies are also boosting thermal comfort. “As peak loads are reduced, the mechanical systems will operate with less variability, leading to the presence of reduced or eliminated drafts within spaces since variable-air-volume (VAV) air distribution equipment will experience a tighter range of airflow as they operate from a minimum to a maximum amount throughout the year,” explains Scott M. Davis, P.E., LEED AP, BD+C, vice president and director of mechanical engineering, Bala Consulting Engineers, King of Prussia, Pa. “This will result in more efficient distribution systems and more comfortable spaces.” Below you’ll find a few examples of solutions that can help manage cooling loads in your next project.

Advances

Flooring

A Code that Won't Crack

Designed using an artful interpretation of technology, coding and data, Patcraft has created a new luxury vinyl tile in 15 refined colorways. Named Creative Code its varying hues dispersed throughout each tile along with both neutral and bright color options make it a good fit for branding, wayfinding, color blocking and mixing. The tiles are available in 12-in. × 24-in. and contain 20-mil wear layer to enhance product durability and performance in high demand environments and an ExoGuard+ finish that provides enhanced scratch and stain resistance.

Case Study

Universal Design

Gracious Universal Design in Mixed-Use Building

The World Architecture Festival announced that Kampung Admiralty, designed by WOHA has been selected as the 2018 Building of the Year. Selected among 535 projects from 57 countries, WOHA’s mixed-use senior housing project integrates a medical center, daycare facilities, a public food hall, a public park and a community garden, establishing a new architectural precedent for a critical issue of our time: engaging, supporting and housing senior citizens in a multi-use, multi-generational setting.Vertical VillageTogether, several government agencies have combined a plot of land and building project to maximize land use and budget. The tight site with a height limit of 45 meters had the tea

Case Study

Thermal & Moisture Control

It’s a Perfect Ten

First and only LEED Platinum multifamily complex in Arlington County The Ten at Clarendon is an award-winning multifamily residential project centrally located in a vibrant neighborhood just across the Potomac River from the U.S Green Building Council Headquarters. In 2017, Arlington County was named the nation’s first Platinum-level county under the U.S Green Building Council’s LEED for Communities certification program. Certifications are an incredible achievement and provide a benchmark for progress as they continue to work toward climate, sustainability, and equity goals.Arlington County’s Green Building Density Bonus Program was established in 1999 to keep pace with th

Architectural Products

A Water Celebration

Read the Digital Edition

Jul/Aug ’19

Elliptical Door Swing

Hospital Addresses Safety and Aesthetic Concerns

Greater Impact Resistance

Articulation Curbs NYC "Dirt Factor"

Mixed-Use Mastered in Downtown Montreal

AP ProductWire

Passively Cool

A Code that Won't Crack

Gracious Universal Design in Mixed-Use Building

It’s a Perfect Ten