Press release dated 16.02.2015
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA HEALTH SHANDS CHILDREN´S
HOSPITAL RENOVATION
The colorful, attention-grabbing new façade planned for the University of
Florida (UF) Health Shands Children’s Hospital is courtesy of a new
painted, stainless steel woven wire mesh introduced by HAVER &
BOECKER. This innovative product provides an infinite array of color
and pattern options for building facades.
For the past several years, University of Florida Health (UF Health) located in
Gainesville, Fla., has been working toward consolidating pediatric services within the
university medical center. A planned renovation for the east entry atrium and building
façade led the owners to realize it was time to establish a completely separate identity
for the children’s hospital, which is, essentially, a hospital within a hospital on the UF
Health campus. According to Bradley S. Pollitt, AIA and vice president of facilities
development at UF Health Shands Hospital, “The portal project is now rebranding the
entrance to the building so that our smallest patients do not have to enter through the
adult hospital.”
Understanding that a hospital can feel ominous to a child, the owners asked the
architectural firm, Ponikvar and Associates, to take an approach to the renovation that
was child-friendly, while at the same time created a separate identity for the children’s
hospital that would differentiate it from other areas of the facility. According to Jack
Ponikvar, vice president and principal architect at Ponikvar and Associates, “We were
challenged to do something that was child-like without being childish.”
This differentiation demanded a dramatic change to the exterior of the building.
Months of reviewing design options and product research led the architecture firm
and the construction management firm, Ajax Building Corporation, to consider a light
Press release dated 16.02.2015
and colorful alternative to the somberness of the existing brick façade with
architectural wire mesh by HAVER & BOECKER.
Made from architectural grade T316 stainless steel, the HAVER woven wire mesh
product provided options not available with any other type of material. The color
selection allowed for a bright, multi-color façade layered over the existing brick
cladding, which would be appealing to young patients while also establishing a new
identity for the building. Additionally, creating colored facades with woven wire mesh
presents a multitude of unique design options. The interaction of artificial light,
daylight, transparency, luminosity and color ensures the stylistic effects of the façade
change continually. And, the painted stainless steel wire mesh is incredibly durable,
weather-resistant and virtually maintenance free.
Bringing the visually striking design to life was not without its challenges. Designed to
represent green, rolling hills, the outermost skin of the façade is made up of 26
MULTI-BARRETTE 8124 panels, which are painted green. These include 19, 85-foot
long panels that diagonally slope approximately 19 feet over the span of the design.
Supporting the mesh panels at the changing elevations to maintain the rolling hills
visual provided a unique test for the installation team. However, overcoming the
obstacles has proven worthwhile in the appearance of the finished product.
HAVER & BOECKER produced sample panels for review by the owners, architecture
firm and project managers. Using a crane, the sample panels were positioned in front
of the existing façade to determine the visual effect that would be created once the
colored panels were in place. Ponkivar noted, “The use of color with the woven wire
mesh panels created a crystal jewel kind of feel.”
The woven wire mesh is manufactured to specification for each project. HAVER &
BOECKER works with each architecture or design firm to bring individual inspirations
Press release dated 16.02.2015
to life. The product provides a play of light and shade, gloss and transparency that
give each project its own unmistakable identity. Depending on the type and size of the
mesh, the wire mesh surface can be transformed into a stylishly transparent or more
opaque visual anti-glare surface. The LARGO-PLENUS 2022 weave pattern with a 25
percent open area was used for the Shands Children’s Hospital project.
Says Pollitt, “We did not want to do solid colored metal panels. The woven wire mesh
provided partial transparency. This is going to be the most visually dynamic building
in the city. There’s nothing like it in North Florida.”
Crow adds, “Changing the building this way creates a more modern perspective of
the hospital. The new façade will really grab people as they go by and make them
want to come in. The colors make it attractive to children. It’s more cheerful, which
can be part of a good memory.”
www.weavingarchitecture.com
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Press release dated 16.02.2015
About HAVER & BOECKER
HAVER & BOECKER is a traditional family-managed, midsize company with headquarters in
Oelde, Westphalia, Germany. Under the umbrella of HAVER & BOECKER OHG, one finds the
Wire Weaving and Machinery Divisions. Together with over 50 subsidiary companies on all
five continents, they make up the HAVER Group which has more than 2,898 employees and
150 representatives. In 2014 the HAVER Group posted a sales turnover of 428 million euros.
The Wire Weaving Division produces woven wire cloth and processes it into engineered
woven wire products. They are used for screening and filtration by the chemical, plastics,
automotive, aviation, aerospace, electronics, foodstuffs and feed industries, as well as for
architectural applications and analysis sieves.
The Machinery Division specialises in packing and weighing technology. It develops,
produces and markets systems and plants for filling and processing loose, bulk materials of
every type. The product range includes packing and loading systems for powder-type and
granulated materials, packing machines for filling food and animal feed, as well as filling
stations and complete filling lines for liquid and pasty products. The product range is
supplemented by screening machines, machines for washing, pelletizing plates, agitators,
mixers, palletizing and loading systems, silos, ship loading and unloading equipment.
www.haverboecker.com