| W. S. Tyler Sponsors Free Continuing Education |
 |
W. S. Tyler offers the following FREE on-line continuing education course at AEC Daily's Online Learning Center. This course is available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, and is registered with AIA, CSI, and many more organizations. |
 |
Using Woven Wire Mesh in Architectural Design Applications
Provides an overview of the technical and functional features of woven wire mesh and illustrates how its aesthetic qualities offer fascinating architectural solutions for interior and exterior design.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS COURSE
|
|
Urban Camouflage
By Claudia Kessner
Stainless-steel wire mesh imbues vibrancy and depth to parking garage
This new five-story, 300,000-squarefoot (27,870-m2) Motor Transport Division and Main Street Parking facility is a major component of the expansion of the Los Angeles Police Department within the city’s downtown. The concrete and steel structure will house 800 employee and Motor Pool cars, as well as a mechanic’s garage where the growing fleet of LAPD vehicles will be fueled, washed and maintained.
Three main strategies of camouflage integrate the large mass of |
 |
this mid-block infrastructural building into its context—a neighborhood that is quickly revitalizing into a thriving residential, culturally diverse, arts-oriented hub:
First, the Motor Transport Division component of the program is embedded at the rear of the building’s mass, below sidewalk level, keeping it out of public view. The main volume of the structure is set back from the sidewalk in order to preserve views of St. Vibiana’s Cathedral, which now serves as a cultural center.
Second, a 140-foot- (43-m-) long public Gallery is sited along the southwest edge of the site. It enlivens Main Street, enhancing its pedestrian appeal, and provides a diversion from the utilitarian structure to which it is appended. Located approximately midway between the numerous art galleries clustered in the Bank District and MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary, this gallery space will strengthen the link between the two areas.
Third, a patterned, stainless-steel woven wire mesh screen, supplied by W.S. Tyler, Mentor, Ohio, that drapes the primary façade on Main Street will imbue vibrancy and depth to an otherwise banal elevation. Functionally, it camouflages the LAPD personnel using the building, thereby addressing the Department’s stringent requirements for security.
The perforations in the 8-foot- (2-m-) wide woven wire mesh panels provide natural ventilation for the structure. Held off the building by a series of over 150 steel pipe struts, the screen’s 34 vertically oriented panels fold in, out and around the cantilevered walkways, forming the primary access to each of the parking levels. The resultant surfaces, of varying depths, create a layered effect that effectively dematerializes the massive concrete structure behind it. The streetscape is animated by the play of light upon the screen’s undulating topography, and the dynamic quality of the shadows and reflections cast by it. |
|
|
W.S. Tyler Architecture Design Woven Wire Cloth combines functionality with high aesthetic features. A combination, which opens new perspectives to creative design and allows for fascinating architectural solutions.
W.S. Tyler's primary architectural product website, www.weavingideas.net, has become a working resource for the architectural industry. It features detailed woven wire mesh product specifications for facades, exterior cladding, ceilings, and wall systems.
A new technology, IMAGIC WEAVE, is a combination of W.S. Tyler architectural wire mesh and Traxon LED Technologies. It enables you to create individually programmable lighting effects in any color including video presentations on a new or existing facade.
For more information on W.S. Tyler, please visit http://redirect.aecdaily.com/s18122/www.wstyler.com. |
    |
|
