Metal Construction News, February 2021

For more projects visit www metalconstructionnews com projects Photo courtesy of Pioneer Construction Esperanza Brighton Park Chicago JGMA designed Esperanza Brighton Park health center to be a glowing beacon welcoming residents seeking health care and wellness services in an underserved southwest Chicago neighborhood The building is a long rectangular box with angled ends Parallelogram shaped metal panels create horizontal and diagonal joint lines across the long sides of the building Punched windows are also parallelogram shapes The front of the building is a short side of the buildings rectangular bar form At it the top of the wall angles inward toward the ground Also a large picture window that spans the second fl oor opens up the interior to the outside The picture window is inset on the façade with vertical metal panels above and below it and triangular metal panels at the sides Tony Lemmon project manager at East Coast Metal Systems Inc which fabricated metal composite material MCM for the exterior cladding says the picture window frame at the east side of the building has a 60 degree radius The form is an inverted triangle that looks like a set of wings he adds The long sides of the building are clad with MCM panels that shift colors from red to orange and yellow as different wavelengths of light are refl ected Those colors are representative of colors in Esperanza Health Centers logo Juan Gabriel Moreno AIA president and founder at JGMA says Weve reinforced the Esperanza brand identity with this cladding You dont have to put a big neon sign on this building to know that its Esperanza To complete the exterior cladding East Coast Metal Systems fabricated two colors of 3A Composites USA Inc s 4 mm thick ALUCOBOND PLUS MCM On the long sides of the health center Tuschall Engineering Co Inc installed MCM in Cupral from the Spectra Collection Cupral appears red orange and yellow depending on light and viewing angle Most of the Cupral panels around the windows have both vertical and horizontal returns to the window says Lemmon These panel shapes cannot be fabricated out of a single sheet of ALUCOBOND so we utilized two sheets of ALUCOBOND PLUS and chemically welded the returns to the face of the panels At the front short side of the building Tuschall Engineering installed MCM in Platinum Mica from the Classic Collection Brendan Nolan project manager at Tuschall Engineering says The angles on this project are really unique This was the fi rst time that we had installed parallelogram panels in a grid pattern We got it right by coordinating with the other contractors and carefully following the drawings The two story 26000 square foot health center houses clinical offi ce space 30 exam rooms diagnostic and treatment services space and retail pharmacy Outside there are 69 parking spaces outdoor walking paths a garden and playground We wanted this design to feel like a community building not just a health care center says Moreno The neighborhood lacks parks and open space We wanted to incorporate the outdoors as a part of wellness Owner Esperanza Health Centers Chicago General contractor Skender Construction Co Chicago www skender com Architect JGMA Chicago www jgma com Installer Tuschall Engineering Co Burr Ridge Ill www tuschalleng com Fabricator East Coast Metal Systems Inc Triadelphia W Va www ecmsinc net Circle 33 Metal composite material 3A Composites USA Inc Davidson N C www alucobondusa com Circle 34 Photos Joe Crimmings Photography courtesy of 3A Composites USA February 2021 METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS 31 www metalconstruct ionnews com