JUDGES AWARD BUILDING AND ROOFING AWARDS Lights On and Lights Out By Paul Deffenbaugh, Editorial Director Custom aluminum louvers refl ect light where it’s needed and provide privacy for patients
The UC Davis Health System has been expanding and the new parking structure at the UC Medical Center in Sacramento, Calif., required the design be both sensitive to the privacy of patients in the adjacent hospital building and get enough light into the interior of the structure so it didn’t become a dungeon-like environment. Sacramento-based Dreyfuss & Blackford
Architects designed a louver system from Sapa Extrusions, Rosemont, Ill., that allows for light refl ectivity and permeability while protecting the patients from curious or casual passersby. At the same time, the pattern of louvers provides such a unique façade that one of the judges said he would be using the idea on a future structure. Jason A. Silva, AIA, LEED AP, is a design prin-
cipal at Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects and served as the design architect on the project. “The louvers have multiple functions,” he says. “On the south- ern elevations (facing the streets) they tilt out from the top so they bounce light into each fl oor level. On the elevation facing the hospital, the louvers are angled out at the bottom to maintain privacy for the hospital bedrooms in the adjacent towers, while al- lowing visibility down to the street level. The space created by the large projection from the face of the building (from 12 inches up to 15 feet offset) allows light to travel down to the lower levels and then refl ect back into the garage.” Silva and the design team went through sev-
eral iterations of the layout and settled on the fi nal version after running tests to determine daylight- ing levels. “We found the version that was most diverse allowed the most light, with the benefi t of a more dynamic light and shadow pattern that changes throughout the day,” Silva says. In addition, the varied patterns refl ect sur-
rounding light and colors more randomly, which according to Silva mimics the way a tree canopy refl ects light on the ground. At night, he says, “headlights and taillights dance about on the fa- çade of the building, but only when in motion. As if a refl ection of the building’s use, it performs a light show for the vehicles passing by.” The selection of aluminum and choice of
white served multiple purposes. The color scheme worked with the university’s “clean machine” aesthetic. The aluminum provides durability and lightness that recall the innovations in health and medicine that are occurring on campus.
UC Davis Medical Center Parking Structure III, Sacramento, Calif.
Completed: July 2012 Total square footage: 423,000 square feet Building owner: UC Davis Health System Construction cost: $20 million Architect: Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects, Sacramento, www.db-arch.com General contractor: McCarthy Building Cos., Sacramento, www.mccarthy.com Structural engineer: Watry Design Inc., San Jose, Calif., www.watrydesign.com Metal installer: RankerAMG, Sacramento, rankeramg.com Louvers: Sapa Extrusions, Rosemont, Ill., www.sapagroup.com