A new parking garage serving the George A. Purefoy Municipal Center of Frisco, TX features a modern exterior wrapped in versatile stainless steel metal fabric from Cambridge Architectural.
The George A. Purefoy Municipal Center is Frisco’s primary civic center, which uniquely houses Frisco City Hall on its west side and Frisco Public Library on its east side. The combination of what normally would be two buildings into one makes the Municipal Center a vital and progressive public space. The Center’s architectural design is vital as well, featuring twelve columns, each five feet in diameter, and a central tower constructed of eye-catching red granite.
A new 574-space parking structure serving the Municipal Center was built in the same style as the Center itself, so when choosing an exterior cladding material that worked well with that design, the city opted for a Cambridge Architectural metal fabric system. The woven mesh panels held in tension over building openings complement the look of the Municipal Center, while performing various necessary functions for the garage, which almost always require fall protection and environmental resistance.
Functions of the architectural mesh system are owed in large part to the inherent nature of the material itself; a supremely durable building component acting as an effective barrier without closing off space or blocking views.
“The nature of Cambridge’s mesh facilitates an accessible, public-friendly facility,” says Patrick Schoenfeldt, Senior Associate with Studio Architecture, the architect of the project. “Its visual transparency makes the space feel very open, all while providing security in the form of fall protection.”
In terms of design, Cambridge has extensive experience helping to match the style of new buildings with those of existing neighboring buildings and/or surroundings. Frequent success with this type of design goal is a direct result of not only the versatility of architectural mesh, but also of Cambridge’s design and engineering capabilities.
“It is often quite challenging, and ultimately, quite rewarding to help design a new building in the style of an existing one,” says Mike Moorhouse, Director of Sales at Cambridge Architectural. “We’re always excited and motivated by our product because it’s so adaptable and so fashionable at the same time.”
A big factor in Cambridge’s success with projects like the George A. Purefoy Municipal Center garage is its design-build approach. Cambridge always supports the entire design and construction team every step of the way when engineering a custom façade system. By being involved in the project from preliminary ideas to final installation, Cambridge supported the architect’s overall design concept while ensuring a streamlined installation process.
“The installation of the Cambridge mesh system was easy and straightforward,” says Andrew Janczak, Assistant Superintendent of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., the contractor of the project. “Representatives from Cambridge were on-site from the placement of the first panel to make sure everything went smoothly.”
The architectural mesh system was engineered with mesh in Cambridge’s Scale pattern, which features large-scaled, flexible open weaves that shade and screen structures including facades, parking garages and pavilions.
Cambridge’s Eclipse™ tension attachment hardware was used to install the Scale product. Tailored edges are provided for expanses of flexible metal fabric in tension. Elegant, custom-cut apertures receive the metal fabric ends in tubing, which is integrated into a bracket and structural support design. Tube sizes may vary to emphasize or de-emphasize the attachment. The Eclipse hardware is appropriate for lengths of metal fabric held in tension up to 100 feet.
Together, Cambridge’s metal fabric pattern and attachment method work together to achieve the look and performance required by the architect.
“Overall, the city of Frisco is well served by the new garage, and by Cambridge’s final product,” says Patrick Schoenfeldt. “It complements the design of the neighboring municipal building, and provides a building exterior requiring virtually no long-term maintenance.”
Construction on the George A. Purefoy Municipal Center parking garage was completed in June 2010. The project team consisted of architect Studio Architecture, Oklahoma City, OK and general contractor McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., Dallas, TX.