Architect
Raphael Vinoly Architects
GC
Turner Construction Company
Completion
2006
Contract Value
31.8m
Building Type
Healthcare / Research / Education
Technology Type
Stainless Steel/Zinc, Large/Special Glass, Glass Structures, Skylights, Sunshading, Glass Fin Systems, Point-Fixed Glass, Glass Fin/Point-Fixed Glass
Facade
Design/assist-design/build program for one of the largest and most diverse installations of structural glass in the US at 147,000 sqft; fail-safe design strategy; seven unique interior and exterior system types; system’s performance and design validated by one year of independent testing; installation time at 85,000 man-hours; 60 custom dies for aluminum extrusions systems included doors, rainscreen roof panels and operable vents
Glass
Low-iron glass throughout 16 different glass panel types with little dimensional repetition; design demanded the outer limits of glass production capabilities; glass panel sizes up to 13 ft x 10.5 ft, 3-ply at 1800 lbs., 4-ply glass portal beams at dim. between bolts; horizontal 20 ft 8 inch, vertical 9 ft 1 inch
Description
Over 900 ft long 3-story complex following the curving contour of the site; over 740,000 sqft including laboratories, conference and recreational facilities and housing; second largest green roof with many other sustainable design features
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Cladding high-rise towers using advanced exterior wall technology is a specialty of Enclos. Building enclosures come in wide variations of design and performance criteria, and Enclos particularly excels at the custom, highly complex structural glass enclosures that push the boundary of design, material, and installation. The architect’s design for the Janelia Farms site provided a milestone for load-bearing structural glass design at Enclos, and in fact represents one of the largest installations of its type in the world.
The research facility is a 900 foot long, three-story, serpentine building set into a hillside along the Potomac River in Northern Virginia. The enclosure consists predominately of custom structural glass constructs. The interior of the building also features large expanses of structural glass wall systems. Low-rise private residences compliment the custom glass designs of the project.
The facility’s massiveness is masked by the property’s wooded tree lines and the second largest green roof in the world, but if stood upright the central facility would equal the equivalent of an 85-story building. Two arch-like glass enclosures supported by a minimalist stainless steel framing system connect the top two floors of the campus, accenting the facility’s flowing curves and surrounding topography while continuing the theme of expansive glass corridors. Throughout the first floor, trellis beams extend to support the exterior glass wall and roofing system, enclosing the corridors and providing the housing for HVAC, sprinkler and lighting systems.
Enclos acted as the design/builder of the various unique glass systems, working closely with the architect to realize the vision of maximized transparency in the building enclosure. This was accomplished by developing seven unique glass system types in response to differing functional requirements, including using glass as a structural element in support of glass cladding. Considerations of redundancy were a primary design driver for systems such as the glass corridors that resemble a “house of cards” made entirely of glass. As typical of the Enclos project development process, a safe and efficient installation method was developed in parallel with the fail-safe design.
Glass entrances, corridors and interior wall partitions were created using monolithic ultra-clear, low-iron glass. The corridor glass consists of dual interlayer, 3-ply laminated glass lites of 3/8 inch Diamant with .060 clear PVB interlayers. The large 3-ply panel sizes of approximately 140 square feet resulted in individual fabricated panel weights approaching 1,800 pounds.
Site logistics and scheduling issues were particularly challenging on this project, and represented a leading reason Enclos Corp was selected as the glazing design/builder. |
