Exterior Building Enclosures Design Process and Composition for Innovative Facades C. KEITH BOSWELL, FAIA ffffiirrss..iinndddd ii 0099--0055--22001133 0099::3355::2288 Cover Design: Wiley Cover Photograph: © Tim Griffi th Th is book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. 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Buildings—Protection. 3. Architectural design. I. Title. NA2940.B37 2013 721'.8—dc23 2012047064 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ffffiirrss..iinndddd iiii 0099--0055--22001133 0099::3355::2299 Contents Acknowledgments v Chapter 4 Construction 135 STEP 6: Construction Process 135 Chapter 1 Basics 1 Bidding or Tender: Understanding the Basics 1 The Step In-Between 137 Process 2 Paper Stage of Definition 2 Construction 139 Functions 3 Enclosures Detailed Elements and Forces on the Primarily by the Exterior Enclosure 23 Architect 142 Design Principles 43 “Bricks and Mortar” Basic Types 51 Stage 144 Interfaces of Enclosure Types 52 Summary 149 Summary 53 Chapter 5 Brick Masonry 151 Chapter 2 Participants 55 Overview 151 Owner 58 Design 151 Architect 62 Enclosure Structural Engineers 67 Considerations 154 Design Team Resources: Weather Protection 162 Material Suppliers, System Thermal Design/Vapor Fabricators, and Specialty Control/Condensation 162 Fabricators 76 Fire Resistance/Life Safety 167 Builders 79 Summary 167 Summary 85 Masonry – Brick 168 Harvard University Northwest Chapter 3 Design Process 87 Science Building STEP 1: Define and Establish Masonry – Brick 186 Enclosure Goals 87 Rice University BioScience Research STEP 2: Enclosure Concepts 89 Collaborative STEP 3: Research, Collection, Masonry – Brick 206 and Analysis 92 UCLA Anderson School STEP 4: Schematic Design/Design of Management Development: Enclosure Chapter 6 Natural Stone Masonry 217 System Development 97 Schematic Design 98 Overview 217 Design Development 105 Design 219 STEP 5: Construction Enclosure Structural Documents 117 Considerations 220 Summary 134 Weather Protection 228 iii ffttoocc..iinndddd iiiiii 0099--0055--22001133 0099::3366::1122 Miscellaneous 237 Metal Framed and Glass 392 Summary 239 San Francisco International Masonry – Natural Stone 240 Airport The Gas Company Tower Metal Framed and Glass 420 Masonry – Natural Stone 266 Jinta Tower ARCO Tower One Metal Framed and Glass 435 Masonry – Natural Stone 275 Fountain Place (formerly Allied The New Beijing Poly Plaza Bank Tower) Masonry – Natural Stone 291 Metal Framed and Glass 450 Ronald Reagan Building and Shanghai Huawei Technologies International Trade Center Corporate Campus Chapter 9 All-Glass Enclosures 483 Chapter 7 Architectural Concrete 321 Overview 483 Overview 321 Design 484 Design 321 All-Glass Enclosure Structural Structural Considerations 329 Considerations 484 Weather Protection 331 Weather Protection 497 Detailing and Additional Design Specifications 332 Requirements 501 Summary 337 Summary 502 Architectural Concrete 338 All-Glass Enclosures 503 United States Embassy Beijing The New Beijing Poly Plaza Architectural Concrete 356 All-Glass Enclosures 526 Dallas City Hall Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Farm Chapter 8 Metal Framing Research Campus and Glass 365 All-Glass Enclosures 542 Overview 365 Lenovo/Raycom Building C Entry Pavilion Design 367 Enclosure Structural Considerations 373 Chapter 10 Realization 559 Weather Protection 381 Putting It All Together 559 Thermal Design/Vapor Emerging Trends and Control/Condensation 383 Technology 567 Fire Safety 388 Integrated Technologies 574 Additional Design Summary 575 Requirements 389 Summary 391 Index 577 iv Contents ffttoocc..iinndddd iivv 0099--0055--22001133 0099::3366::1122 Acknowledgments Many very talented people have directly and Cortney Cassidy. Her patience, care, and attention to indirectly contributed to the thought development, each line and word made this eff ort enjoyable. problem solving process, and built examples pre- To Michael Flynn and Emma Cobb from Pei sented in the content of this book. Th is is the result Cobb Freed & Partners LLP (PCF) a hearty thank of being fortunate, beyond my imagination, to be you for your reviews of the PCF Case Studies and the surrounded by talented and quality driven profes- use of the drawings provided. I have always respected sionals throughout my career. To all of them I say your work with a special admiration of the design thank you. I am particularly grateful to the clients— consistency and resulting building enclosures. I am mine and those responsible for buildings completed grateful to Charles Bloomberg and Andrea Lamberti by other architects—for their support and vision of from Rafael Vinoly Architects for contributing your high performance and fi nely crafted buildings and design thought process for the HHMI case study. exterior enclosures. Brad Feinknopf, Paul Fetters, Tim Griffi th, Jeff Th ere are a select group of individuals who have Goldberg, Timothy Hursley, Nathaniel Liebermann, participated directly with a steady and positive infl u- Nick Merrick, Cesar Rubio, Nathaniel Liebermann, ence during the development and gestation of the and Peter Vanderwarker, graciously allowed me writing and graphics presented. access to their stunning photos for many of the com- Much of the design fundamentals presented pleted enclosures presented in the case studies. have been the result of my exposure to the creative To my talented colleagues at Skidmore, Owings genius of John Walker III. What started as an archi- & Merrill LLP San Francisco, present and past, you tect subcontractor interaction many years ago devel- make work fun. What started as an idea of working oped into a fantastic collaboration between an at SOM for a few years to gain experience has grown architect and enclosure designer. Exchanging sketches into 33 years of collaboration with the most tal- of systems and details with dialogue and critiques on ented interdisciplinary designers with the hopes of how to eff ectively develop a successful solution is many more years and design opportunities to come. enormously benefi cial and educational. It is a privi- P articularly, thanks to Diane Hernandez, for all of lege to call you a mentor and friend. All issues have your assistance, work, and support in this eff ort and an answer and the joy is the journey during design, every day. detail and construction. Every design problem is a Finally and most of all, thank you to Cathy design opportunity Boswell. You are my biggest supporter and critic. Many of the line drawings presented were drawn Your patience, encouragement, and unwavering freehand by me and graphically composed by commitment are the reason I get up every morning. v ffllaasstt..iinndddd vv 0099--0055--22001133 0099::3355::5511 ffllaasstt..iinndddd vvii 0099--0055--22001133 0099::3355::5511 1 Chapter Basics You have to learn the rules of the game. Th is is the case no matter the size or location of the project. Large or small or any size in between, exte- And then you have to play better than rior building enclosures are planned, researched, anyone else. designed, detailed, and executed to look good and ALBERT EINSTEIN achieve defi ned performance levels per criteria estab- lished for the specifi c project. Before beginning exte- rior enclosure design for a project, it is imperative Good building design and good exterior building that the architect possess or acquire a basic under- enclosure design don’ t just happen. “Good” is a broad, standing of the intended and necessary functions of subjective, and sometimes overused term, used pri- the enclosure, the elements and forces acting on marily to describe the visual aspects of design. It is and infl uencing the enclosure design, performance open to many interpretations. In exterior building design principles and associated physics, and the enclosure design, visual appearance is generally consid- basic types of exterior building enclosures. In con- ered the major component of good design. It has been junction with these items noted, project delivery said before that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. methods will determine the extent of detailed design Exterior appearance is very important; however, exte- to be performed by the architect and design team or rior building enclosure design is more than just visual by delegated detailed design to participants of the appearance. It is the integration of the science of phys- construction team. Th is embedded or acquired ics with the science of materials. It is the integration of knowledge and identifi cation of design responsibil- materials, material properties, and performance design ity, coupled with the design intent, is required to pro- principles. It requires a basic understanding of build- vide complete enclosure design. ing and construction sequencing. It is the application Some exterior building enclosures are fairly sim- of science and design principles with the art of compo- ple. However, with higher performance expectations, sition. It is in this intersection of science, art, materials, emerging technologies, and regulatory standards, pro- construction, and many other factors where design posed designs may require a higher level of detail, and technology, art, and science become architecture. documentation, and construction technology to exe- In complete design of exterior building enclosures, cute. As the old English proverb states: “You have to beauty is more than skin deep. crawl before you can walk, and walk before you can run.” So, getting exterior enclosure basics defi ned and understood is the fi rst step. Th e moral is that you have Understanding the Basics to understand the basics in order to advance to more sophisticated levels of design performance and E very building design and the associated exterior execution. Th is is paramount. For those unfamiliar enclosure design are unique for the particular project. with the basics outlined above, these principles will be 1 cc0011..iinndddd 11 0099--0055--22001133 0099::0077::0011 presented initially at a foundation level and then 3. Do not limit your imagination. applied to enclosure systems and types later, in the 4. Do not forget for whom or what the building system case study sections. For those who are familiar design and exterior enclosure is designed. with these basics, read on. You may fi nd the founda- Exterior design is a process that is tailored to the tion descriptions useful for their application to the specifi c needs of the project. In order to be a complete design process discussed in subsequent chapters and design process, the process must defi ne and answer the systems/case studies where the basics are applied. the fi ve W’ s: What, Why, Who, Where, and When, as well as one H: How. Th is chapter discusses the “What” (basics and topics of exterior enclosures) and Process “Why” each topic is applicable. For example: What is the extent of the exterior building enclosure? What Architectural design is a process-oriented profession are the intended functions, and why do they infl uence and activity. Exterior building enclosure design is design? What are the forces on the exterior enclosure, also a process. Exterior building enclosures are one of and what do they infl uence? What are some of the the most visible and technically complex aspects of performance design principles, and why are they applied architecture. Enclosure design intent, performance within enclosure systems and system interfaces? What design principles, system design, fabrication and are some of the types of exterior enclosure systems? construction methodologies, and completed exterior Th e topics identifi ed are applicable, in part or enclosures must be studied, researched, and articu- whole, to all exterior enclosures and their design. lated in a meaningful and systematic way or inevita- Th ese may appear abstract in some cases, until they bly something will be missed and/or left out. As an are applied. Subsequent chapters will address: Who architecture student during an interview for a sum- are the participants, and what are their roles? What mer intern job, I received some valuable advice when levels of design are addressed, and when does showing my modest portfolio of student work. “You each occur in the design process? What levels of doc- can’ t learn it all, you can’ t memorize it all, and you will umentation, collaboration, and coordination occur, never know it all. What you can do is develop, imple- and when does each occur in the process? What is ment, and practice a problem-solving process.” I have expected by builders in the construction process? carried this with me during my years of practice. Why is a particular enclosure system selected, and E nclosure design process has its “Do’ s” and “Do how is it used? Where are the design basics and per- Not ’s.” formance principles applied to actual case studies? How does it all come together in architecture? DO ’S: Th e design process can be creative and lead to 1. Research and continue learning. innovative solutions faster, and with more joy than 2. Listen. pain, if you imagine, research, analyze, collaborate, 3. Keep an open mind. imagine again, test solutions, refi ne solutions, docu- 4. A ccept criticism, and determine what to accept ment, and execute. and what to reject. 5. U nderstand the basics of materials, structural principles, natural elements, natural and human- Defi nition created forces, thermal transfer and properties, and acoustics. Prior to initiating a discussion of the basics, it is neces- 6. Study manufacturing processes. sary to defi ne—for the purposes of this book—the 7. Distill information. exterior building enclosure. It is the enclosing mem- 8. Think with graphics. brane in vertical, sloped, horizontal, or other geomet- DO NOT ’S: ric confi gurations separating exterior elements and 1. Do not be afraid to try multiple ideas. forces from interior occupied areas. Th e exterior 2. Do not be too proud to redesign and redraw. building enclosure begins either at grade or within the 2 Exterior Building Enclosures cc0011..iinndddd 22 0099--0055--22001133 0099::0077::0022