Metal Building System Houses Structural Testing Laboratory
Article written by Christopher Brinckerhoff of Metal Construction News
Structural testing of building materials takes place inside Auburn University’s Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory (ASEL) in Auburn, Ala. On the exterior of the building, Chambless King Architects created a design that communicates the structural testing activities taking place internally. Furthermore, in addition to meeting requirements to house the testing facilities themselves, the firm highlighted the building’s structure by exposing it.
Communicating the Inside out
Several glazing elements provide views of what’s happening inside. For example, at the southeast end of a structural and geotechnical testing laboratory building, there is a large curtainwall and glass overhead doors. From outside, the testing space and a concrete strong wall can be seen.
Nick Henninger, AIA, principal at Chambless King Architects in Montgomery, Ala., says, “This [glazed wall] is protected from the sun with a large overhang and perforated screens that frame the exposed building structure. We wanted to provide ample daylight and views as well as let the impressive space and function of the lab translate to the exterior. This led to large expanses of glazing with large overhangs and perforated screens to protect them from the sun as well as the high strip of glass that shows off the cranes.”
To build the screen-walls, Duncanville, Ala.-based Metal Roofing Solutions Inc. installed Allentown, Pa.-based ATAS International Inc.’s perforated and nonperforated corrugated Metafor panels in Regal Gray.
Other glazing elements that reveal interior activity on the outside of the building include windows on the southwest side of the structural and geotechnical testing laboratory building that visually connect with an administrative wing next to it.
Henninger says, “There are clerestory windows that exhibit 30-ton cranes and translate their movement though the façade. A curtainwall below mirrors the full-height glazing of the adjacent administrative wing, which helps to tie the forms together visually, while offering additional views to the strong wall inside. The transparency of the administrative wing shows off the heavy timber structure inside including the diagonal wood bracing, which especially expresses the structural nature of the building.”
Performance and Modern Look
To meet performance requirements and, at the same time, underscore an expression of a modern, industrial complex, Chambless King Architects specified a variety of metal cladding.
On the roof of the structural and geotechnical testing laboratory building, Metal Roofing Solutions installed 31,100 square feet of Houston-based MBCI’s Double-Lok standing seam roof system in Snow White. Under an overhang on the administrative wing, Metal Roofing Solutions installed ATAS’ Opaline metal soffit panels in Regal Gray.
On the walls of the structural and geotechnical testing laboratory building, Metal Roofing Solutions installed 28,000 square feet of Lewisville, Texas-based Metl-Span’s CF Architectural insulated metal panels (IMPs) in Regal Gray. Additionally, Chambless King Architects specified a variety of panel widths for different areas, and IMPs with a custom color.
Henninger says, “We used 42-inch-wide Mesa panels along the top of the high bay to break up the tall façade. The rest was a pattern created by mixing 30-inch- and 36-inch-wide panels. We did a custom color, Auburn Bronze, for panels under the curtainwall in the same color to visually expand their impact on the façade.”
In terms of relating the IMPs and sunscreens at the southeast glazed wall on the structural and geotechnical testing laboratory building, Henninger says, “The corrugation [of the perforated panels] related well to the corrugation of the adjacent Mesa panels. We used non-perforated Metafor panels for mechanical screen-walls in the rear of the facility.”
Designing to Accommodate Testing
The uses of the building for structural testing entailed building requirements that drove many of the design choices. “The lab required a 30-foot-tall strong wall with two, 30-ton cranes above, so this set the height and capacity of the structure,” Henninger says. “I find the massive strong wall and strong floor exciting not only for their scale, but for the types of testing they enable.”
Chambless King Architects determined a metal building system best suited the needs of the structural and geotechnical testing laboratory building and the third of three connected buildings that comprise the ASEL, a concrete materials laboratory.
“Steel structure was a logical choice for us considering the height and spans of the structure, as well as the loads from cranes and roof-mounted equipment,” Henninger says. “We began with a structural steel design, but switching to a pre-engineered metal building helped us significantly reduce project costs.”
Metal Roofing Solutions erected a clear-span metal building system from Irving, Texas-based Mesco Building Solutions. It has a single-slope roof with a 1/2:12 slope and tapered columns. Inside the structural and geotechnical testing laboratory building, two, 30-ton overhead bridge cranes from Konecranes Inc. in Springfield, Ohio, were installed.
In addition to the size of the building, its overall form and where it is oriented on the site were driven by the testing activities to take place inside it.
The 42,000-square-foot ASEL is Y-shaped. The structural and geotechnical testing laboratory building and concrete materials laboratory are oriented on the same northwest/southeast axis. The structural and geotechnical testing laboratory building faces southeast the glazed wall open to W. Samford Avenue. The concrete materials laboratory is behind the structural and geotechnical testing laboratory building, and the administrative wing connects to the west side of it, and runs on an east/west axis.
“A determining factor for the orientation and form of the building was the need for loading access of very large structural components that would be tested in the facility,” Henninger says. “Responding to the site and access requirements was a significant driver of the design. The angle of the high-bay structure was to accommodate delivery of oversized structural members for testing, while the administrative wing remains oriented south and parallel to the street.
“We had to plan for up to a 135-foot-long truck to back into the building and onto a strong floor. We tested an original layout for the site and found it would require a significant amount of additional land just for truck maneuvering space. We solved this by rotating the lab to allow the truck to back in at an efficient angle directly from the street. This had a huge impact on the building layout and I think led to a more interesting design solution in the end.”
Exposed Structures
In addition to the glazed elements, the design makes the structural testing activities a focal point with a variety of exposed structures. The structural and geotechnical testing laboratory building and concrete materials laboratory, for instance, have exposed metal structure. The administrative wing has exposed heavy timber construction including glulam framing and cross laminated timber (CLT) roof panels. Likewise, there is exposed concrete structure in testing spaces.
“Another aspect that played heavily in the design was the goal to highlight various structural systems, which is why we ended up with a mix of CLT/heavy-timber, steel and concrete,” Henninger says.
More specifically about the exposed concrete structure, inside the structural and geotechnical testing laboratory building, there is strong floor, which is a 3-foot-thick concrete slab supported by 2-foot-thick concrete walls. There is also a strong wall, which is a 4-foot-thick, 30-foot-tall, L-shaped, concrete wall with 4-foot-deep buttresses behind it. Through both the strong floor and strong wall, there are 2-foot-square grids of stainless-steel sleeves that serve as anchor points. In the strong floor, there is a 20-foot-deep geotechnical test chamber.
“The lab uses a hydraulic pump system to apply loads to structural components including wood, concrete and steel,” Henninger says. “They perform slow breaks, as opposed to catastrophic failure. It is a 3,000-psi hydraulic pump system that provides loads for testing through a hardline piping system that runs through the basement area under the strong floor. Flexible hoses connect to this system and run up through the strong floor to connect to the actuators on the floor that apply specified loads to the test members. These features enable full-scale testing on structural components and systems, even in three orthogonal directions simultaneously. Additional equipment throughout the facility allows for smaller scale structural and material testing as well, including wind testing.”
The LEED-certified project has been recognized with awards including AIA Alabama, Honor Award; AIA Birmingham, Honor Award; Alabama Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Merit Award; and American Council of Engineering Companies of Alabama, Engineering Excellence State Award.