rainscreen

Barrier Walls vs. Rainscreen Exteriors
Design Innovation
Barrier Walls vs. Rainscreen Exteriors
June 4, 2021 at 2:32 pm 0

When selecting cladding for your building, there are a few important considerations when choosing barrier walls versus rainscreen cladding. Learn more about each system and the factors you should consider.  

What are Barrier Walls? 

Barrier walls are the outermost layer of the building envelope, preventing water and air penetration with a single plane. Insulated metal panels offer a single component barrier wall system which creates an effective building envelope, serving as an air, water and thermal barrier The IMP’s interior layer employs field installed seals to prevent water and air migration beyond the IMP. Barrier walls can be a dry seal or a fully wet sealed system and do not require a backup air or water barrier. 

With barrier walls, a single component system, you have the benefit of single source responsibility with one manufacturer and one installer.  

What is Rainscreen Cladding? 

The rainscreen is the outer shell of your building’s facade. Rainscreen cladding relies on back up walls for air and water performance. They are available in many different materials and provide a variety of options for external appearance. 

Rainscreen cladding systems consist of several components and therefore require several labor trades for installation.  

Barrier Wall System vs. Rainscreen System  

There are a variety of items to consider when choosing between a barrier wall system versus a rainscreen system. Some of these items can include, labor, structural capabilities, panel size availability and accessories. Each system has its own niche. Learn more about which will work best for your application.  

What kind of performance is the architect looking for? 

Both barrier wall systems and rainscreen systems can be engineered for desired performance to serve as an effective air, water and thermal barrier. While barrier walls offer the desired performance with one single component system, rainscreen systems require multiple components.  

What is the budget? 

The cost of both systems will vary based on a variety of factors including project location for labor costs, square footage of material and material chosen for the rainscreen panel.  

What aesthetic is the architect trying to achieve? 

The desired aesthetic is an important factor to consider when choosing between a rainscreen system or a barrier wall system.  

Rainscreen systems offer more aesthetic options including texture and geometry. They also offer flexibility with material options such as copper, aluminum, stainless steel and zinc. Rainscreen systems can add a touch of modernity to any building project.  

Barrier wall systems also offer aesthetic options such as a variety of colors, finishes and textures. Barrier wall also offer various substrates to complete the exterior of your building.  

What components need to be integrated? 

When designing the building envelope system, it is common to add components such as windows and louvres that are designed to be fully integrated with the wall panel. The ease of integration depends greatly on which system you choose.  

With barrier walls, a single component system, fully integrated component options may be available from the panel manufacturer. They offer a significant improvement in the total wall performance by providing a continuous, uninterrupted seal between the panel, window and or louver, providing a better overall wall performanceBarrier wall systems may also offer better product span capabilities, contributing to reduced labor and material costs.  

With rainscreen systems, it can be more challenging to incorporate accessories such as windows and louvers due to the multiple components required to create the wall assembly and coordination needed to provide a continuous air and water barrier. 

 

Contact our highly experienced staff to learn which solution is best for your business.  

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CENTRIA® Concept Series Panels Create Distinct Urban Aura at the Archer Hotel, Napa
Design Innovation
CENTRIA® Concept Series Panels Create Distinct Urban Aura at the Archer Hotel, Napa
December 5, 2019 at 8:00 am 0

The Archer Hotel is a boutique establishment located in Napa, CA. Situated at a bustling and lively downtown intersection, the hotel covers 136,000 square feet with 183 guest rooms. It features a 15,000 square-foot deck with an outdoor bar and dining options, a spa, and private outdoor patios.

“The Archer Hotel embodies the essence of Napa – its vineyards,” says Roger Brown, Senior Vice President and Director of Design, LK Architecture, the firm responsible for the design. “The strong vertical and horizontal lines represent the posts supporting the vines and the breaks and furrows of the vineyards. This rhythm, repetition and geometry relates back to the place itself.”

The clean lines and contemporary look of CENTRIA Concept Series panels bring a sense of urban modernity to the building’s main tower, achieving the goal of blending the old world with the new.

Approximately 16,000 square feet of Concept Series in Silversmith with a smooth finish and Sundance Mica coating were used, enabling the building to stand out as a destination in the popular tourist area.

“CENTRIA panels cover the building’s corner tower and were selected to give it a distinctly urban feel,” says Brown. “We used different tones of grey to add variation and a subtle shimmer.”

Concept Series single-skin rainscreen panels feature concealed fasteners and a common-lock joint that allows the panels to be integrated with each other. The panels are primed for easy installation, with stand-off clips that provide a ventilation cavity and drain plane behind the panel. These panel clips also allow for thermal and seismic movements.

“The panels are a quality product and are easy to work with,” says Brown. “We also appreciated the fact that CENTRIA was able to achieve the shades of grey we desired.”

The Archer Hotel was completed in August 2017. LK Architecture provided design services, the general contractor was SD Deacon, and the CENTRIA dealer was Blackwood Associates. The panels were installed by TriCore Panels, Inc.

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Bringing an Abandoned Space Back to Life
Design Innovation
Bringing an Abandoned Space Back to Life
November 25, 2019 at 9:28 pm 0

 

Retrofit projects are extremely varied and diverse in nature. From taking a former strip mall and transforming it into a central courts facility, to upgrading former industrial buildings for mixed-use purposes, retrofit is an innovative way to bring new life to abandoned or empty structures.

Vacant lots and dilapidated buildings are always an eyesore, and new construction on unused space can enhance an area, creating fresh vibrancy and, at times, a new focal point for the community. Out on Holbrook, Long Island, a Unique Fitness facility sought to take advantage of one such empty site, bringing a new, vibrant fitness center to the area.

Formerly an abandoned and blighted Holbrook construction site, located on Long Island along Veterans Memorial Highway between Sunrise Highway and MacArthur Airport, the area was transformed into the 42,000 square foot Unique Fitness outlet – the fourth of its kind in Suffolk County and the company’s largest location. An existing structure, a 350-foot-long abandoned office building that has been on-site since the early 2000s, was incorporated into the project.

Consequently, the design team had a large space with which to work, and they required a top-performing product that united aesthetics and energy efficiency. They ultimately selected approximately 29,000 square feet of CENTRIA MetalWrap™ insulated composite backup panels, augmented with 15,000 square feet of Concept Series single-skin rainscreen panels to complete the façade.

“We chose to use MetalWrap because of the insulation benefits and how it conforms to stringent local energy requirements,” says Tyler Fox, Project Manager, JM2 Architecture, the firm responsible for the design. “To have the building fully weather-tight with MetalWrap while still working on the exterior was a very attractive advantage from the start. Complete, it looks beautiful and we were able to achieve a modern look while keeping with the branding colors of Unique Fitness.”

CENTRIA MetalWrap insulated composite panels can serve as a backup wall for nearly any type of exterior rainscreen system, from single-skin metal to brick, terra cotta, and others. The system can achieve energy efficiency goals with a single component that eliminates the need for conventional batt or board insulation, exterior gypsum, air barriers, vapor retarders, and building wraps. The MetalWrap system's single-component construction also means a single source of responsibility, which means less coordination, fewer scheduling and interface issues, and one-step installation.

“The CENTRIA panels met what we were looking for aesthetically and made the most sense for us regarding performance and installation benefits,” says Fox.

CENTRIA Concept Series single-skin rainscreen panels also contribute to the Unique Fitness façade. The system possesses an unbroken appearance that further adds to the product's aesthetic versatility.

The Unique Fitness facility was completed in March 2019. The architect was JM2 Architecture and the CENTRIA product was installed by Above All Store Fronts.

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Modern Metal Rainscreen Aesthetic
Design Innovation
Modern Metal Rainscreen Aesthetic
September 18, 2018 at 4:39 pm 0

The mixed-use 71 France apartment maximizes space with modern amenities and exceptional performance.

Just outside of Minneapolis, the city of Edina, Minn., has become a destination for people of all ages looking for an urban experience filled with dining, retail, culture, and possibilities. A particular point of pride for the town is the Edina Promenade, an 80-foot-wide greenway that was built to tie the area’s retail, residential, and recreational offerings together. It features bike trails, public art, and a 10-acre lake. (more…)

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Construction Spotlight
Panel Discussion
Construction Spotlight
April 11, 2018 at 7:40 pm 0

Navy Federal Credit Union Campus showcases turnkey design and performance.

The world's largest credit union turned to a single-source metal building envelope system by CENTRIA for its massive, $195 million expansion project.

Navy Federal Credit Union made plans for a multi-phase expansion of its Pensacola, FL campus to meet the demands of immense business growth in recent years. The first phase of the expansion includes a three-story office building, a central energy plant and a five-level, 347,500-square-foot parking deck.

The second phase, currently under construction, incorporates additional office facilities. The project also encompasses surface parking as well as bridges, roads, walking paths, stormwater retention features and other infrastructure.

Designed by multi-disciplinary architectural firm ASD | SKY to meet LEED Silver certification standards, the office buildings rely on CENTRIA’s MetalWrap insulated composite backup panels as the primary building envelope component. This highly sustainable backup system integrates seamlessly with CENTRIA's Intercept modular metal panels for the best in performance and aesthetics.  

Intercept Entyre panels, showcased in both an aluminum substrate and zinc from RHEINZINK, deliver exceptionally modern aesthetics to the state-of-the-art office facilities. The Intercept system provides a unique level of aesthetic variation in panel size and shape. The light-gauge, monolithic aluminum sheets offer an economical solution for complex panel applications.

Designers also incorporated CENTRIA’s Paradigm rainscreen panels with MicroSeam Corners. This unique product allows architects to choose from CENTRIA’s library of standard shapes or tailor a project-specific profile with customized module parameters, including panel depth and rib count, geometry, and spacing. The ability to create a unique building façade with limitless polygonal rib designs permits a new level of variation in shadow relief.

Intercept and Paradigm panels available as a total rainscreen wall system when combined with MetalWrap insulated composite backup panels. MetalWrap panels are designed with CENTRIA’s innovative advanced thermal and moisture protection (ATMP) technology to control water and maximize thermal efficiency. As the inner layer of the rainscreen system, MetalWrap panels provide defense against harsh weather conditions. And the single-component insulated composite backup panels expedite installation and close-in time requirements—especially vital in Florida’s rainy, humid climate.  

MetalWrap Integrated Series features integral attachment systems—including the MR-100 and MR-300 rail systems as well as integral clips, pintles and/or masonry anchors—for ease of installation of any cladding material such as metal, terra cotta, ACM panels, brick facades and other rainscreens. This aesthetic flexibility makes it the perfect choice for mixed-medium exteriors. The product offers 2” and 3” thicknesses to provide thermal performance for even the most demanding projects.

Installers from FLC Systems are hard at work at the Navy Federal Credit Union campus as construction continues. Their expertise with the product accelerates installation time to produce a weathertight barrier, making way for interior tradesmen to work on the office interior. All told, the finished project will incorporate more than 500,000 square feet of CENTRIA metal wall panels.

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Unlocking Design Potential
Design Innovation
Unlocking Design Potential
January 23, 2018 at 1:15 pm 0

Energy plant unifies the $88 million WakeMed North Healthcare Campus. 

The central energy plant serves an important role as the electric and HVAC heart of many academic or healthcare campuses. All too often, though, the overlooked facilities are geared toward a utilitarian, design-challenged aesthetic. After all, it's just the central energy plant, right?

Not to Ryan Wilborne, AIA, LEED AP, at BBH Design, a Raleigh, N.C.-based full-service design shop specializing in healthcare and higher education projects. Wilborne takes polite exception to the central energy plant’s ugly duckling status: “Infrastructure buildings can be beautiful.” (more…)

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Home Run in Birmingham
Expert Analysis
Home Run in Birmingham
September 17, 2017 at 9:40 pm 0

Regions Field’s custom metal façade is a statement of civic pride.

From the front office to the dugout, members of the Birmingham Barons Double-A baseball club will tell you their success is the result of a total team effort. The same is true for the dedicated professionals behind the club’s award-winning ballpark, Regions Field.

The aesthetic focal point of the ballpark is the city’s name, cut in towering letters with a unique, inside-out effect. (more…)

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Wall Weatherproofing with IMPs
Panel Discussion
Wall Weatherproofing with IMPs
July 31, 2017 at 6:50 pm 0

Making the case for insulated metal panels as the single-source solution.

Building envelopes are typically a series of materials separating the building interior climate from the exterior. These materials must be connected from wall to roof, and wall to floor/foundation, and they need to encapsulate the building and perform specific functions to resist moisture in liquid and vapor states, air infiltration and heat flow. (more…)

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A Warm Welcome
Design Innovation
A Warm Welcome
May 17, 2017 at 5:41 pm 0

Duluth Transit Authority rolls out $27 million facility as a red carpet to passengers and pedestrians.

Aaron Kelly, AIA, LEED AP, received an immersive welcome to Duluth, Minn.

“My third day on the job at LHB was an interview for the project,” Kelly, the award-winning specialist in civic, sustainable design, says. “I was all in and have been living and breathing it for three years.”

The project Kelly refers to is the $27 million, 150,000 square foot Duluth Multimodal Transportation Center. The sleek, modernist structure offers an amalgam of transit services – bus, car, taxi, trolley, bike, and pedestrian – in a prominent, high-profile downtown location for the city’s 90,000 residents. (more…)

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America’s Game
Panel Discussion
America’s Game
January 31, 2017 at 9:46 pm 0

CENTRIA products are showcased on National Football League stadiums nationwide.  

The first stadium of its size to utilize a retractable roof, NRG Stadium will play host to Super Bowl LI on Sunday, February 5th. The grandiose, high-performance venue will serve as an appropriate backdrop to a clash between two of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses, not to mention the pomp and circumstance that coincides with the world’s greatest sporting spectacle.

Houston’s NRG Stadium is one of dozens across the United States to feature CENTRIA exterior metal building products. The flashy metallic façade showcases over 250,000 square feet of CENTRIA’s flagship product, Formawall Dimension Series insulated metal panels (IMPs) in multiple shades of silver. Other CENTRIA products include IW Series single-skin concealed fastener panels and nearly 175,000 square feet of EcoScreen perforated screenwall. (more…)

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