Developers in Honduras are working hard to create spaces that take advantage of the country’s convenient location and talented bilingual workforce to make it an outsourcing hotspot. One new project, the Altia Business Park, located in San Pedro Sula, is designed to give businesses more than an office park—with a university campus, medical center, hotel, exercise and sports facilities, and more. Developers planned the business park to provide a turnkey solution for businesses and their employees, pitching it as a way to let companies focus on their core business while being assured that the amenities they need are right outside their door.
For the developers, a key part of that amenity-rich environment is the Altara Center, the business park’s shopping, dining and entertainment center. Altara Center was designed to serve as a portal between the business park and visitors, which meant that its design was crucial, and its façade had to project an image that was all at once welcoming, high-tech, modern and unique.
Architect Gerardo Lopez was charged with designing the Altara Center, and in his search for a material for the façade, he came across ALPOLIC aluminum composite panels. The Prismatic line of these panels combines fluoroethylene vinyl ether (FEVE) technology with mica flake pigments in the paint, which gives the panels a sparkling, color-shifting effect, thanks to the light reflecting differently with every change in the viewing angle.
“When [Lopez] learned we could provide a finish that would be kind of like a chameleon—changing colors throughout the day as the sun changes position, as if the finish is alive—he fell in love with the idea,” said Octavio Diaz, international sales manager for ALPOLIC materials.
For Lopez, there was just one problem—the blue-purple tones he envisioned were not available. But ALPOLIC and Valspar teamed up to create the custom color the client was after. The team used a Pantone color as its jumping-off point, and worked through a series of samples with the client to ensure the final color was exactly as he had in mind.
Using Valspar’s Valflon coil coating not only allowed Lopez to get the perfect custom Prismatic Purple shade, it added brilliance and durability to the panels. Valflon coatings are durable FEVE fluoropolymer based resins, which creates a distinguished appearance without sacrificing on performance. They also provide excellent adhesion and flexibility properties as well as exceptional resistance to air-borne chemicals and protection against weathering, chalking and fading.
The final effect is one that is very different from the typical aluminum composite colors of silver, gray or white. In the daytime, the appearance of building shifts from light blue to deep purple depending on the time, weather and viewing angle. With the panels fastened to a concave wall, the viewing angles change significantly even for viewers standing in place. In addition to the Prismatic Purple coating, the building features multicolored LED lighting behind perforations in the cladding material, which gives it nighttime color-shifting abilities as well.
The completed Altara Center gives the business park the ideal gateway envisioned by its developers, who state that “San Pedro Sula is a vibrant city… and Altia Business Park is a world-class business and technology park with all the required energy, telecommunications, security and modern office space. All of these factors together provide a real cost-competitive advantage for a turnkey solution at a nearshore location.”
As the business park gains tenants and regular visitors, the dynamic façade of the Altara Center will continue to welcome them for many years to come.
Altara Shopping Mall, San Pedro Usula, Honduras http://www.altiabusinesspark.com/altia/altara.cfm
Contact Information:
General contractor: Grupo Karim’s
Architect: Arq. Gerado Lopez
Panel supplier: ALPOLIC Materials
Panels engineering, production, Installation: Windotec
Coatings provider: The Valspar Corporation; Minneapolis; http://www.valsparcoilextrusion.com/
Related Stories
Airports | Apr 4, 2022
Dominican Republic airport expansion will add mixed-use features
The recently revealed design concept for the expansion of Santiago International Airport in the Dominican Republic includes a transformation of the current building into a mixed-use space that features an office park, business center, and hotel.
Codes and Standards | Mar 23, 2022
High office vacancies have cities rethinking downtown zoning
As record-high office vacancies persist in U.S. urban areas, cities are rethinking zoning policy.
Projects | Mar 22, 2022
Fast-growing Austin adds a $3 billion community
The nation’s fastest-growing large metro area is getting even bigger, with the addition of a $3 billion, 66-acre community.
Projects | Mar 18, 2022
Former department store transformed into 1 million sf mixed-use complex
Sibley Square, a giant mixed-use complex project that transformed a nearly derelict former department store was recently completed in Rochester, N.Y.
Projects | Mar 17, 2022
Plans unveiled for ‘Wall Street South’ mixed-use office block in West Palm Beach
Brand Atlantic Real Estate Partners, Wheelock Street Capital, and B+H Architects released design plans for a new mixed-use office block in West Palm Beach called Banyan & Olive.
Projects | Mar 10, 2022
Optometrist office takes new approach to ‘doc-in-a-box’ design
In recent decades, franchises have taken over the optometry services and optical sales market. This trend has spawned a commodity-type approach to design of office and retail sales space.
Mass Timber | Mar 8, 2022
Heavy timber office and boutique residential building breaks ground in Austin
T3 Eastside, a heavy timber office and boutique residential building, recently broke ground in Austin, Texas.
Performing Arts Centers | Mar 8, 2022
Cincinnati Ballet’s new center embodies the idea that dance is for everyone
Cincinnati Ballet had become a victim of its own success, according to company president and CEO Scott Altman. “We were bursting at the seams in our old building. We had simply outgrown the facility,” Altman told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Projects | Mar 7, 2022
An Atlanta office promotes employee well-being
For its new Atlanta office, New Relic, a California-based technology company that develops cloud-based software, wanted to keep employee health and wellness at the fore. It also wanted the workspace design to bolster productivity as well as employee engagement and retention.
Projects | Mar 3, 2022
Move, lift, restore: Repurposing a former post office near San Francisco
In mid-February, a construction crew began lifting a 1940s post office building located in Burlingame, Calif., on the San Francisco Peninsula.
