Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Panel Facade System Enhances Design

  • 12/01/17
Metalwerks

The Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management benefits aesthetically from Metalwërks’ precision metal façade system, which also allowed designers to come in under budget.

Metalwërks, a leader in precision metal plate exterior façade systems, provided 82,000 total square feet of its products for a new construction project at Morgan State University’s new business school in Baltimore, and the pedestrian bridge that connects the east and west sides of the campus.

The new six-story Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management is the jewel of the long-awaited Morgan Business Center. The building is clad with a number of Metalwërks products, including Arcwall DBV Spline panels, custom perforated column covers and skylight panels, and custom Econowall canopy and plate accent features throughout.

Before Metalwërks’ involvement, the original exterior specification was for terra cotta tile, which was coming in over budget. With no additional funding available, Metalwërks collaborated with design architects at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) and Ayers Saint Gross—the local architect of record—to study a variety of wall systems, ultimately providing one that would save on funding considerably and win them the project in August of 2013.

The triangular-shaped structure takes advantage of the site’s significant north to south grade change—evident at a landscape view of the building. Its subtle curvature and wedge shape, along with various curtainwall levels, provided a challenge during the design phase—overcome by Metalwërks’ breadth of accommodating products and an integrated project team approach.

“Even with such a complex design, Metalwërks fabricated the facade flawlessly,” says Tarek Saleh, senior associate at Ayers Saint Gross. “Their design-build process was a great success, and the final product looks incredible.”

On the exterior of the business school building, varying sizes of Arcwall DBV (Drained, Back Vented) Spline panels were specified between vertical window units. The assorted panel sizes were incorporated and installed seamlessly.

www.metalwerksusa.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, OR

    Preserving Legacy, Designing for the Future

    As historic academic buildings age, institutions face a difficult decision: preserve and adapt or demolish and rebuild. How do we honor the legacy of these spaces while adapting them to meet the needs of modern learners?

  • Dallas ISD Voters Approve $6.2B Bond Package

    Dallas ISD voters have approved a record-setting $6.2-billion bond package that district leaders say will modernize aging campuses, eliminate portable classrooms and reshape learning environments across one of the nation’s largest school systems.

  • Harvard Announces Replacement Facility for Native American Program

    Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., recently announced that construction will begin this spring on a new home for its Native American Program, according to university news. The 6,500-square-foot, all-electric building will stand three stories and serve as the central hub for the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP).

  • Universities Continue to Launch Multimillion-Dollar Campus Transformations

    What makes the current wave of campus development especially noteworthy is its emphasis on multi-use functionality and community integration. Institutions are no longer investing solely in academic or athletic facilities in isolation. Instead, they are creating destinations that blend recreation, health, housing, and event-driven economic activity.