High vaulted ceilings are a challenge to acoustical engineers looking to control, direct and amplify sounds to create a dynamic listening experience. LMN Architects approached the design for the new Voxman Music Building at the University of Iowa with an acute understanding of the construction limitations. They needed lightweight, yet rigid material that could be fabricated and hung in the open space in order to provide the right acoustics, integrate in the lighting and fire safety systems, and provide an inspiring experience true to their bold vision.
Metal composite material proved to be the perfect solution for this complex problem. In partnership with fabricators at Shaffner Heaney Associates, Inc, 6mm-thick ALPOLIC®/fr Metal Composite Material (MCM) was designed, fabricated, and installed to meet all engineering concerns and exceed the design expectation in bringing colorful swarms of kites to life.
Throughout the design process, the LMN Tech Studio employed a 3D parametric model to simulate how ALPOLIC® MCM could best provide sound scattering and absorption at the Voxman. The end result helps university musicians achieve the desired acoustic effects during performance.
The kites add rich color and functionality to music rooms without interfering with hanging lights and fire sprinkler systems. Photo credit: Mitchell Stier
To create the 946 detailed components adorning the high ceilings of Voxman’s main music hall and two large rehearsal rooms, Shaffer Heaney fabricator Mark Haab and his team digitally cut 36,000 square feet of ALPOLIC® with a fire retardant core. The unique installation also permitted other systems - lighting and fire sprinklers - to penetrate without interfering in the overall look of the design. "It was unlike any composite job we've done or seen anyone else do, and we knew it was something special the minute we saw the architect's plans," said Haab.
Six different colors, four of which were custom, all using Lumiflon® FEVE resin, add a touch of brilliance to the spaces within the building. While these aluminum "kites" appear to float in the sky, much the like the music filling the rooms, they contribute important elements to the functionality of the music rooms.
“This process and ALPOLIC® MCM has really become a calling card for us,” said Steven Van Dyck of LMN Architects. “We’re exploring and find we can make it do almost anything.”
"It's really a masterpiece, from the architect’s concept through the execution," said Haab of the overall project. "We took something that was very challenging and unique and out of the box and got it done."
Project Details: University of Iowa, Voxman Music Building
Location: Iowa City, Iowa
Architect: LMN Architects
Exterior Panel Manufacturer: ALPOLIC® Materials | Mitsubishi Chemical Composites America, Inc.
Product: 6mm, ALPOLIC/fr®
Coating: Custom Colors
Industry: Education
Related Stories
| Feb 11, 2011
Sustainable features on the bill for dual-building performing arts center at Soka University of America
The $73 million Soka University of America’s new performing arts center and academic complex recently opened on the school’s Aliso Viejo, Calif., campus. McCarthy Building Companies and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects collaborated on the two-building project. One is a three-story, 47,836-sf facility with a grand reception lobby, a 1,200-seat auditorium, and supports spaces. The other is a four-story, 48,974-sf facility with 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, rehearsal/dance studio, and support spaces. The project, which has a green roof, solar panels, operable windows, and sun-shading devices, is going for LEED Silver.
| Feb 11, 2011
Research facility separates but also connects lab spaces
California State University, Northridge, consolidated its graduate and undergraduate biology and mathematics programs into one 90,000-sf research facility. Architect of record Cannon Design worked on the new Chaparral Hall, creating a four-story facility with two distinct spaces that separate research and teaching areas; these are linked by faculty offices to create collaborative spaces. The building houses wet research, teaching, and computational research labs, a 5,000-sf vivarium, classrooms, and administrative offices. A four-story outdoor lobby and plaza and an outdoor staircase provide orientation. A covered walkway links the new facility with the existing science complex. Saiful/Bouquet served as structural engineer, Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers served as MEP, and Research Facilities Design was laboratory consultant.
| Feb 11, 2011
A feast of dining options at University of Colorado community center, but hold the buffalo stew
The University of Colorado, Boulder, cooked up something different with its new $84.4 million Center for Community building, whose 900-seat foodservice area consists of 12 micro-restaurants, each with its own food options and décor. Centerbrook Architects of Connecticut collaborated with Denver’s Davis Partnership Architects and foodservice designer Baker Group of Grand Rapids, Mich., on the 323,000-sf facility, which also includes space for a career center, international education, and counseling and psychological services. Exterior walls of rough-hewn, variegated sandstone and a terra cotta roof help the new facility blend with existing campus buildings. Target: LEED Gold.
| Feb 11, 2011
Chicago high-rise mixes condos with classrooms for Art Institute students
The Legacy at Millennium Park is a 72-story, mixed-use complex that rises high above Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. The glass tower, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, is mostly residential, but also includes 41,000 sf of classroom space for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and another 7,400 sf of retail space. The building’s 355 one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom condominiums range from 875 sf to 9,300 sf, and there are seven levels of parking. Sky patios on the 15th, 42nd, and 60th floors give owners outdoor access and views of Lake Michigan.
| Feb 11, 2011
Apartment complex caters to University of Minnesota students
Twin Cities firm Elness Swenson Graham Architects designed the new Stadium Village Flats, in the University of Minnesota’s East Bank Campus, with students in mind. The $30 million, six-story residential/retail complex will include 120 furnished apartments with fitness rooms and lounges on each floor. More than 5,000 sf of first-floor retail space and two levels of below-ground parking will complete the complex. Opus AE Group Inc., based in Minneapolis, will provide structural engineering services.
| Feb 11, 2011
Four-story library at Salem State will hold half a million—get this—books!
Salem State University in Massachusetts broke ground on a new library and learning center in December. The new four-story library will include instructional labs, group study rooms, and a testing center. The modern, 124,000-sf design by Boston-based Shepley Bulfinch includes space for 500,000 books and study space for up to a thousand students. Sustainable features include geothermal heating and cooling, rainwater harvesting, and low-flow plumbing fixtures.
| Jan 21, 2011
Primate research facility at Duke improves life for lemurs
Dozens of lemurs have new homes in two new facilities at the Duke Lemur Center in Raleigh, N.C. The Releasable Building connects to a 69-acre fenced forest for free-ranging lemurs, while the Semi-Releasable Building is for lemurs with limited-range privileges.
| Jan 21, 2011
Nothing dinky about these residences for Golden Gophers
The Sydney Hall Student Apartments combines 125 student residences with 15,000 sf of retail space in the University of Minnesota’s historic Dinkytown neighborhood, in Minneapolis.
| Jan 21, 2011
Virginia community college completes LEED Silver science building
The new 60,000-sf science building at John Tyler Community College in Midlothian, Va., just earned LEED Silver, the first facility in the Commonwealth’s community college system to earn this recognition. The facility, designed by Burt Hill with Gilbane Building Co. as construction manager, houses an entire floor of laboratory classrooms, plus a new library, student lounge, and bookstore.
| Jan 20, 2011
Community college to prepare next-gen Homeland Security personnel
The College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill., began work on the Homeland Security Education Center, which will prepare future emergency personnel to tackle terrorist attacks and disasters. The $25 million, 61,100-sf building’s centerpiece will be an immersive interior street lab for urban response simulations.