High Performing Buildings - Spring 2008 - (Page 12) The use of stone instills a sense of civic permanence. The red glass sun wall defines the main public plaza. scale of the steel and glass handrails to the exposed steel structure. The details serve as decoration and the natural colors of the materials form the palette. Transparency and Openness As desired by Seattle, the new city hall’s architecture expresses transparency, accessibility and openness. In many cases, sustainable prin12 HIGH PERFORMING ciples, coupled with new technology, made possible the welcoming atmosphere. Inside the building, visual barriers between spaces were minimized to allow for easy interaction among the staff and the public. Whenever possible, office space is open. Rooms that are divided, such as conference rooms and offices adjacent to the lobby, have extensive interior glazing. Spring 2008 With the same materials used inside and outside, interior and exterior spaces flow together. Primary functions are expressed throughout. The council chamber, for example, has a distinct form and finish and is seen to extend from the outside into the lobby. The office tower gathers administrative functions in a single block that visually slices through the lobby roof by means of a skylight. The mayor’s conference room is articulated as an oval, visible inside and outside and as part of the building’s roofscape. The exterior glazing is clear with a low-e coating that achieves a high level of solar performance with as much transparency as possible. This allows one to see interior volumes within the glass skin and to see the street, the public plaza and the view while standing in the lobby. Research was done to select the best product for each application. Initially, Viracon VE-2M was favored because of its high visible light transmittance of 70% (shading coefficient 0.44/solar heat gain coefficient 0.38). However, selecting VE-52, a slightly darker coating with only 50% visible light transmittance (shading coefficient 0.36/solar heat gain coefficient 0.31), reduced costs and increased solar performance. The savings funded curtain wall elements that had been eliminated as a result of value engineering. As an added benefit, the cool blue tint of VE-52 coating complemented the material palette of the building. In many places a ceramic frit was added to further reduce heat gain and mitigate glare. This is most apparent on the south side of the tower where a 50% vertical pinstripe BUILDINGS
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