Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Solving Glare and Heat Gain

  • 01/01/19
Draper custom motorized shade system

The Gordon Parks Arts Hall in the University of Chicago Lab School installed a custom motorized shade system on tracks with redirectional rollers.

The University of Chicago Lab School had a problem in its new arts facility, the Gordon Parks Arts Hall. “They had a beautiful façade design with unique angles and breaks in the glass,” says Clint Childress, LEED-AP, solar control solutions product manager at Draper, Inc. “But with this design, they had a problem finding any solar shading that would work.”

Bryan B. Biggers III, president of Beverly Venetian Blind Company, agreed it was a complex project. “It’s something we had never done before,” Biggers says, “but I felt that it would be a great opportunity to do something very special even though we really didn’t know how we were going to accomplish it.”

Biggers approached Draper’s Solar Control Solutions (SCS) division, which designs and manufactures custom solutions for customers around the globe. “SCS is about bringing solutions to solar shading problems,” Childress says. “There may be too much heat gain, a unique glazing design, an operation that is not standard, or anything that makes standard products not an ideal option.”

After some back-and-forth exchange of ideas and on-site meetings, a final design was agreed upon: a custom motorized shade system on tracks with redirectional rollers to help the shades follow the changes in slope. One of the biggest challenges for the Draper design and production teams was the different brackets required. “With the changing break-line in the curtain wall glass per shade, each shade was slightly different,” says Draper’s Director of Engineering Harold Seib. “Different length tracks (both left and right side for each shade), different length brackets, and different numbers of brackets.”

Biggers has returned since the initial installation to make a few adjustments and said the Lab School is extremely happy with the unique shading solution.

www.draperinc.com

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management January/February 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • UCF Modernizes College of Hospitality Management

    The University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla., recently completed a major renovation effort for the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, according to a news release. The project modernized 77,600 square feet worth of academic classrooms, teaching labs, and collaborative spaces to support both students and faculty.

  • Washington State University Debuts New Engineering Hall

    Washington State University recently celebrated a dedication ceremony for the new Schweitzer Engineering Hall on its Pullman campus in Pullman, Wash., according to university news. The facility measures 66,288 square feet, and its completion marks the first milestone in a larger university effort to modernize the engineering and design district.

  • R.I. District Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for New Elementary School

    Cranston Public Schools in Cranston, R.I., recently announced the completion of Gladstone Elementary School, according to a news release. The 100,000-square-foot facility serves as a replacement for the 1950s-era former building, and it consolidates the student, faculty, and staff populations of Gladstone and Arlington Elementary Schools.

  • Montclair State University Debuts New VR Facility

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently announced the completion of a new virtual reality learning facility developed in partnership with Dreamscape Learn, according to a news release. The 2,450-square-foot lab space is inside the College of Communication and Media building and will serve students pursuing careers in digital media, virtual reality, and content creation.