Commercial Architecture April 2018 - 52

exteriors

PROJECT

Community
Center Is A
Standout
A translucent wall
system sets a facility
apart from the
ordinary.

hen officials of the City of Maryland

The community center for the City of Maryland Heights, just outside St. Louis, uses a translucent wall system to diminish unsightly views, glare, heat,
and noise, without compromising the amount of daylight in the building.

noise coming from the neighboring major highway.

ence across the greater community. Early in the planning

Heights, just outside St. Louis, commit-

"The clear acoustical interlayer allowed us to increase

process the city challenged the architects to design a

ted to replacing their original communi-

the STC [sound-transmission class] level on the east fa-

building that could be seen as a city landmark from all

ty center, a converted church from the 1970s, they had

cade while maintaining a consistent aesthetic with the

angles-specifically by those driving on the highway.

big aspirations for the impact the facility would have on

non-acoustically treated panels. This successfully resulted

"Part of the thought process behind using the panels

the community. Several design goals were specified for

in a visually seamless transition around the building,"

was to have a glowing beacon and lantern, an entry point

the new center, ranging from blocking unsightly views

explained Schenck.

and symbol for the City of Maryland Heights, during the

and reducing noise to finding a translucent facade that

The neighboring highway, in addition to being a noise

could meet the aesthetic needs of the building's curved

source, was incredibly unsightly, so it was important to

To achieve this, the building was designed to offer a

and tapered walls.

allow daylighting into the space while controlling what

similar aesthetic between the translucent system and

day and night," said Schenck.

The architectural firm, CannonDesign, St. Louis, was

aspects of the nearby landscape visitors could see from

metal panels during the day, while at night the facade is

able to meet, and go beyond, all of the design challenges

inside the facility. CannonDesign incorporated clear

transformed by a glowing ribbon of translucent panels as

with the help of UniQuad, a translucent wall system de-

glass into the facade of the 90,000-sq.-ft. center in con-

they are backlit by the interior lighting. The resulting aes-

veloped by Kingspan Light + Air (formerly CPI Day-

junction with the 9,284-sq.-ft. of UniQuad panels, speci-

thetic is noticeably unique, and helps establish the large

lighting), Lake Forest, IL (cpidaylighting.com).

fied in clear over white matte colors, to provide the ap-

presence within the community that city officials wanted

propriate views necessary to achieve the solution.

to accomplish.

A significant challenge for the project's facade was
that it required a product that would diminish unsightly

"The interior of the building creates a series of alter-

"The new community center has become a source of

views, glare, heat, and noise, without compromising the

nating experiences framed by transparent and translu-

pride for the community and exceeded Maryland

amount of daylight in the building. The center, sand-

cent materials," said Schenck. "The UniQuad system

Heights' goals for memberships and program participa-

wiched between one of St. Louis' busiest highways and a

provides a fantastic diffused-light condition that strategi-

tion," said Schenck. The community center earned Can-

strip mall, was particularly concerned with noise levels

cally limits views to the outdoors and focuses attention to

nonDesign a 2017 AIA St. Louis Honor Award. CA

around the facility.

the activity within."

"Being right next to highway 270, we had to take

The overall building design was also a huge point of

acoustics into consideration, but also wanted to fill the

concern for the community center due to its curved and

space with natural, diffused light. That's why we chose

tapered walls. Not only was the UniQuad system able to

UniQuad wall light," said architect William Schenck,

meet the design needs of the facility, while boasting an

AIA, LEED AP, senior associate, CannonDesign.

impressive 10-ft. panel span, but also by using insulated

The panels were selected for the community center

metal panels that aligned with the translucent glazing

for their scalability and the additional sound-reduction

joints, an almost seamless transition was created between

capabilities they provided. Specified with an acoustical

the two materials.

interlayer for the center's east facade, the translucent pan-

Another important component of the center's design

els were a critical component because they masked the

was that the city wanted the facility to have a real pres-

COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE

APRIL 2018

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