Last month at METALCON in Indianapolis, the Metal Construction Association announced the winners of their MCA 2022 Design Awards, a new awards program serves to recognize MCA member companies for their contributions to making an architect’s designs come alive with metal in construction. Taking first place in the Insulated Metal Panels category, MCA Members Kingspan and 3A Composites were recognized for their work on Rose Hill, a 45-story residential building located in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan (area that lies North and West of Madison Square Park in NYC). What makes this building truly unique is the elegant and intricate filigree with post-era detailing, accomplished only by the use of metal.
As featured in Metal Architecture, “The building design sources inspiration from Rockefeller Group’s landmark developments, namely Rockefeller Center, and the building’s neighborhood context. NoMad’s architectural fabric includes a variety of building styles with unifying undertones of masonry and earth tone colors, and an attention to detailing and patterns from the 1920s to the 1940s.”
John Cetra, FAIA, founding principal, CetraRuddy Architecture, New York City, comments, “Drawing from these influences, the building features an expressive glass and metallic bronze façade, accented with chevron patterns, intricate detailing and expansive windows, referencing a classically gotham aesthetic interpreted in a modern vocabulary.”
Rose Hill’s façade is a metal-and-glass unitized system with a unique repeating chevron pattern in the vertical pilasters. The designer worked with a facade manufacturer to develop a bent metal process in order to replicate the design at scale and make it feasible to implement across much of the building’s facade. A unitized aluminum-and-glass curtainwall was used in order to achieve large sizes. Unlike other 20th century tall towers, the intricate detail goes beyond ground level with the design panels going all the way to the top.
Kingspan supplied the insulated metal panels for the building’s north shearwall and 3A supplied exterior soffit panels made of 4-millimeter Alucobond Plus aluminum composite material. For the curtainwall system that ran from third floor to the top of the roof, Nanuet, N.Y.-based W&W Glass installed a hybrid-wall unitized curtainwall system with custom chevron insulating metal panel infills from Brampton, Ontario, Canada-based Sotawall Inc. The metal used was 3003-H14 aluminum alloy coated in Duranar Sunstorm Chocolate Bronze from Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries Inc. For the storefront, Carlstadt, N.J.-based Coordinated Metals Inc. installed a storefront system from Norcross, Ga.-based Kawneer Co. Inc.
The use of aluminum in the vertical pilasters produced a warm sueded bronze finish, not only paying homage to the neighborhood context, but also creating a different look as it reflects sunlight at different times of day and throughout the year. Aluminum helped create detail with a combination of extruded shapes and corrugated panels. The use of metal also met Zone Green sustainability requirements and reduced the weight of the overall façade compared to masonry or other materials.
Insulated metal panels (IMPs) in North America are increasingly becoming a more popular enclosure solution while at the same time creating profound buildings and memorable spaces. According to Mordor Intelligence, the IMP market is estimated to see healthy growth at an estimated CAGR of over 6% over the forecast period of 2022-2027. Responding to this growth in popularity, the Metal Construction Association’s IMP Alliance, a group of industry leaders dedicated to the promotion and growth of the use of IMPs in the construction marketplace, once again came together last month to exhibit at METALCON under “one roof” in a dedicated pavilion.
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