The south elevation employs louvered sunshades to protect against the harsh light and reflect sunlight across the ceiling. The west elevation required stronger control of light in the two-story volume, so a stainless steel metal fabric drapes the facade.
CENTRIA, Moon Township, Pa., provide the contem- porary look. The silver shades and blend of smooth and profiled panels offer texture and sophistication that speak to the youthfulness of the tech sector, which was a concern since the average age of work- ers at California ISO far exceeds that average age of workers in the California tech sector. Most of the metal panel work appears on the public wing, which includes conference rooms, food service and an open dining area. The public spaces open to an outdoor area
where workers can gather. The use of metal and glass breaks down the barrier between the indoors and outdoors. “We tried to create a place with a lot of natural daylight, was very dynamic and exciting atmosphere, bringing the outside in,” says Barkley. “And we also created spaces where workers can escape the entire building and still be within the security envelope of the property.” One side of the public wing faces west, so
Barkley employed a stainless steel metal mesh from
GKD Metal Fabrics, Cambridge, Md., to shade about 50 percent of the glass and still allow diffused light to enter. “It’s become a very popular spot,” Barkley says.
THE OFFICE WING AND THE DATA CENTER The office wing of the building is a three-story, glass structure that provides ample daylight for workers. “We were most concerned about daylighting in the office wing,” says Barkley. “It has the higher number of people. And we were concerned not only about the energy savings there, but the feeling of the environment. We kept the building width fairly narrow and it’s aligned so that it is on a north-south axis with the primary faces of the building. On the north side, we maximized the glass to bring in the diffused natural light, which doesn’t have much en- ergy consequence if you do that. And on the south side, we used the sunshades to control the light coming in. Also, they reflect light up into the ceiling areas of interior spaces.” The sunshades on the pub- lic wing were manufactured by C.R. Laurence Co.,
Los Angeles, and the sunshades on the office wing were custom designed by Royal Glass Co., Rancho Cardova, Calif. The heart of the building is the data center. It’s
a one-story wing, which angles off to the southwest from the central lobby. Because it requires a more secure environment, it stands more separate from the other areas of the building to control access. The roof of the data center provides the platform for one of the solar arrays, which deliver 750 kilowatts of energy and offset about 20 percent of the building’s energy consumption. The company was, understandably, very
focused on the operation center, since that is the primary mission. “We delivered a lot more than they were expecting,” Barkley says. “They were very pleasantly surprised at what they got.”