BUILDING SKIN
E-NEWSLETTER | SUMMER 2013
  
COLLABORATION WITH STRUCTURAL DESIGN IMPROVES FA�ADE DESIGN

Multidisciplinary collaboration - one of Cornell University's goals for Bill and Melinda Gates Hall, a new computing and information science center in Ithaca, N.Y. - was also an important element in the building's design. Architect Morphosis selected Thornton Tomasetti to provide building skin consulting and structural design services, which allowed the two teams to work side-by-side to deliver integrated, coordinated designs for both disciplines.

 

Gates Hall features sloped and vertical glazing with integrated brackets that support stainless steel shading panels. The entire fa�ade is supported on a cantilevered structural system, which involves large deflections that presented a significant design challenge and required close collaboration between building skin and structure.

 

We worked with our structural team to clarify how varied building movements - under dead load, live load, snow, temperature, and wind and seismic loads - would affect the fa�ades. The structural team was able to minimize the deflections by stiffening the building at local areas, a solution that improved the curtain wall by minimizing visible joints. Coordinating the fa�ade and structural engineering in-house also improved our ability to communicate design intent and issues to the architect efficiently and effectively.

 

Contact: Rob Otani

JOIN US IN SAN FRANCISCO
 
Two of our team members will participate in this July 11-12 conference on the development, implementation, and maintenance of high-performance building enclosures. Join us!

Seminar: The Components of Performance
Edward Peck will discuss the evolution of building skin technologies and the analytics and metrics involved in evaluating recent advancements in materials and technologies. July 11.

Workshop: Innovative Building Skins: Navigating the Design and Construction Process

Edward, Mark Dannettel and Robert Clocker of Perkins+Will will lead a dialog on the "big picture" process for designing and building an innovative fa�ade. July 12.

PROJECT UPDATES
 

Nova, Victoria, London, U.K.

Architects: PLP Architecture and Flanagan Lawrence
Client: Land Securities

Detailed design of the faades has been completed, faade manufacturing to begin in summer 2013 

More Info

 

Sky Soho, Shanghai, China

Architect: Zaha Hadid Archtiects

Client: Soho China

The faade design recently passed its performance mock-up test with flying colors.

More Info

 

For more information on recent Thornton Tomasetti projects, see our latest Annual Report 

E-NEWSLETTER | SUMMER 2013

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