Project: Southbridge Middle-High School
Location: Southbridge, Mass.
Architect: Tappé Associates
Glazing Contractor: Lockheed Window Corp.
Product: SteelBuilt Curtainwall Infinity™ System from Technical Glass Products
When land and budgets are tight, building a new school is often out of the question, no matter how outdated the existing facility. Fortunately, district officials for Mary E. Wells Junior High School and Southbridge High School in Southbridge, Mass., found another solution. To preserve real estate and provide students with accommodations fit for the 21st century, they hired Tappé Associates to design a facility that would hold students from both schools. The result is the new Southbridge Middle-High School.
In the new facility, the middle school and high school classroom wings flank either side of the auditorium and media center. A sleek, glass-and-steel curtain wall joins them together, creating an efficient, shared space that bears little resemblance to the school’s dilapidated predecessors.
To ensure the right gateway between the two school campuses, one consideration during the design phase was selecting a glass façade that connects students to each other and the outdoors while also meeting thermal performance requirements. The design team found their solution with the SteelBuilt Curtainwall Infinity™ System from Technical Glass Products (TGP).
The steel curtain wall system is approximately three times stronger than traditional aluminum curtain wall assemblies and can use as a back mullion nearly any type of structural member, from stainless steel to glulam beams. This enables greater free spans, larger areas of glass and reduced frame dimensions.
In the case of Southbridge Middle-High School, the SteelBuilt Curtainwall Infinity horizontal and vertical back members were combined with large panes of heat-mirror glass to create a 27 foot-tall expanse that provides students with ample daylight and visibility to the outdoors. The curtain wall’s narrow T-profiles accentuate the school’s open, minimalist look. A custom connection and anchoring system furthers this design aesthetic with unique countersunk fasteners that eliminate field welds in the vision area.
Steel frames help improve thermal performance
As a barrier to the elements, the SteelBuilt Curtainwall Infinity System also does more than bridge the two campuses. The 1½-inch heat-mirror glass and efficient steel frames help improve thermal performance. Specifically, the heat-mirror glass secures a thin, transparent low-e film between two sheets of glass. Compared to a conventional 1-inch, two-lite insulated glass unit, it provides improved thermal performance, allowing for a reduction in the steel framing size. This helps reduce the pathway for heat transfer, creating an overall system U-value of 0.26.
Today, the sleek, high-performing curtain wall system helps create a welcoming entrance full of daylight and movement for students and faculty. “We worked hand-in-hand with Southbridge officials to find a design and a solution that best meets the district’s educational needs,” said State Treasurer Steven Grossman, in a Massachusetts School Building Authority news release. “The construction of this new middle/high school will provide more than 1,000 students with a new, top-notch learning environment.”
For more information on SteelBuilt Curtainwall Infinity products, along with TGP’s other specialty architectural glass and framing, visit tgpamerica.com.
Technical Glass Products
800.426.0279
800.451.9857 – fax
sales@tgpamerica.com
www.tgpamerica.com
Related Stories
| Jul 3, 2013
Architects team with HUD to promote 'Rebuild By Design' competition for Hurricane Sandy recovery effort
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) today announced a communications campaign urging its membership to enter the “Rebuild by Design” multi-stage regional design competition announced by Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan on June 20.
| Jul 2, 2013
LEED v4 gets green light, will launch this fall
The U.S. Green Building Council membership has voted to adopt LEED v4, the next update to the world’s premier green building rating system.
| Jul 1, 2013
Firestone Building Products Company LLC Announces Sustainability Report
Firestone Building Products Company, LLC, the leading manufacturer of superior “Roots to Rooftops” products for commercial building performance solutions, today announced the release of its 2012 Sustainability Report. The report, the first for Firestone Building Products Company, covers the fiscal 2012 year and is available for download at firestonebpco.com.
| Jul 1, 2013
LEGOLAND builds 12-foot replica of One World Trade Center
The LEGOLAND Discovery Center Westchester in Yonkers, N.Y., celebrated the completion of a LEGO replica of One World Trade Center by lighting the 12-foot-tall, 100-pound model.
| Jul 1, 2013
Report: Global construction market to reach $15 trillion by 2025
A new report released today forecasts the volume of construction output will grow by more than 70% to $15 trillion worldwide by 2025.
| Jul 1, 2013
Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA, elected 2015 AIA President
Delegates to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) national convention in Denver elected Elizabeth Chu Richter (AIA Corpus Christi) to serve as the 2014 AIA first vice president/president-elect and 2015 AIA president.
| Jun 28, 2013
Calculating the ROI of building enclosure commissioning
A researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory calls building enclosure commissioning “the single-most cost-effective strategy for reducing energy, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions in buildings today.”
| Jun 28, 2013
A brief history of windows in America
Historic window experts from Hoffmann Architects look back at the origin of windows in the U.S.
| Jun 28, 2013
Building owners cite BIM/VDC as 'most exciting trend' in facilities management, says Mortenson report
A recent survey of more than 60 building owners and facility management professionals by Mortenson Construction shows that BIM/VDC is top of mind among owner professionals.
| Jun 27, 2013
Thermal, solar control designs can impact cooling loads by 200%, heating loads by 30%
Underestimating thermal bridging can greatly undermine a building’s performance contributing to heating load variances of up to 30% and cooling load variances of up to 200%, says the MMM Group.