Swisspearl Architectural References - Swisspearl
References
Van Sinderen Plaza, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Van Sinderen Plaza | Brooklyn, NY, USA
Van Sinderen Plaza | Brooklyn, NY, USA

Van Sinderen Plaza runs alongside the elevated tracks of the train from Manhattan. The building has a gradation of bold colors down the full length of the facade to amplify the linear movement of the trains. Both ends start with dark burgundy to echo the residential brick homes in the neighborhood, and gradually transition from dark to light, red to yellow, interrupting the linearity of the building. Above the ground floor, the building volume cantilevers outward to gain a larger building footprint for the apartment levels. Architecturally, this provided the added benefit of reducing the building’s scale. The exterior cladding system is a ventilated rainscreen using Swisspearl fiber cement panels and a Knightwall support system. In order to streamline costs, the panel facade was specifically designed to minimize waste. Amenities in each LEED-certified building include indoor resident recreation rooms, on-site shared laundry rooms, outdoor resident recreation terraces, and bike storage.

Nido Student Accommodation
Nido Student Accommodation | Cork, Ireland
Nido Student Accommodation | Cork, Ireland

Nido Student Accommodation in Curraheen Point is a 145-bedroom student accommodation scheme located within walking distance of University College Cork and Munster Technological University. The apartments are organized around an internal “street” that is landscaped to provide external amenity space, while a large, glazed reception area opening onto both Farranlea Road and the garden contains internal student facilities, such as a lounge, group study room, and laundry. The buildings range in height from two to four floors. A material palette of rich, copper-coloured fibre cement Swisspearl panels in a vertical format, grey metal, render, and stone are combined with the distinctive window design to create a sense of place.

Morand Vaucouleurs
Morand Vaucouleurs | Paris, France
Morand Vaucouleurs | Paris, France

Croixmariebourdon’s six-story residential project is located on a large, elongated site that links two narrow residential streets in the heart of Paris. In order to upgrade the residential building, Croixmariebourdon Architects also added external insulation onto the facades, which are clad in small-format cement fibre Swisspearl panels treated like overlapping shingles. This small format is an unusual and interesting application of Swisspearl cladding. Like a knitted surface, the small-scale Swisspearl tiles in three sizes and shapes create a rhythmic pattern and lively texture on the facades. The external joinery is acrylic resin coated PVC. To integrate splashes of colour into the facade, each window has a colourful high-performance solar protection blind in red, pink, yellow, purple, or turquoise.

Moskenes Servicebygg, Lofoten, Norway
Moskenes Servicebygg | Lofoten, Norway
Moskenes Servicebygg | Lofoten, Norway

The building consists of two concrete walls supporting a long, diamond-shaped roof. Between the gable walls, glass facades span freely, creating spaces for the restrooms and a waiting room with seating for 24 people. Unlike a traditional pitched roof, here the roof line is mirrored, forming a diamond shape that opens to the sky, while creating a human scale. As the roof is the primary element of the building, the architects needed a cladding material that would function equally well as a roof cladding and as a ceiling. A material was also needed that could be detailed with a high level of precision as the architects wanted the roof to register as a single, monolithic volume. Furthermore, the ceiling of the long waiting room also had to function as an acoustic element and, at the same time, allow for integrated lighting. Swisspearl created both the necessary aesthetic and functional properties. The choice of fibre cement Swisspearl panels made it possible to use perforated panels in the ceiling that function as a light source.

Tampografia, Portugal
Tampografia | Nogueira, Portugal
Tampografia | Nogueira, Portugal

Tampografia office building is located in Nogueira da Maia, on the outskirts of Porto, which has been implementing a strategic urban plan aimed at providing optimal conditions for companies and entrepreneurs. The goal was to integrate the building and respect the scale and architecture of its residential surroundings. In order to prevent a massive, heavy construction, it was key to design facades with a sense of dynamic movement, with light and shade and positive and negative forms. These contrasts reduce the scale of the building and disguise its functional character. The linear facades are interrupted by large-format openings, the jambs of which have varying angles so that light is funneled into the interior spaces. Dgrau specified Swisspearl panels for the exterior cladding right at the beginning of the design process. When comparing Swisspearl with similar materials, the architects saw significant advantages in terms of the quality of the product, range of colours, low maintenance, and durability of the material. Using two shades of grey, light on the facade walls and dark grey on the slanted window surrounds, accentuates openings and creates a sense of depth and contrast on the linear facades.

Sommerhus, Solviken, Sweden
Sommerhus | Mölle, Sweden
Sommerhus | Mölle, Sweden

The natural colours of the surroundings were the inspiration for the house’s colour palette. Swisspearl fibre cement panels, balcony railings, and visible parts of the load-bearing structure are built in subdued gray-green hues. The timber facade paneling in Accoya wood has a warm, natural tone and the aluminium frames of the doors and windows are powder coated in black. By combining fibre cement panels on the outer skin and timber cladding on the inner facade surfaces a lively effect has been created on the elevations. Swisspearl panels were chosen for their aesthetics and durability in the long, wet winters. The panels have been cut into long, vertical formats that are nailed to a perforated 25 × 120 cm steel profile.

Creek House, West Vancouver, BC Canada
Creek House | West Vancouver, BC, Canada
Creek House | West Vancouver, BC, Canada

Two creeks flow between mature cedar trees and native plant species, providing habitat for wildlife, such as salmon, otters, eagles, coyotes, herons, and deer, which can all be viewed directly from the house. The existing house was stripped of its layers of past renovation and restored to a modern version of its former self, with the existing timber structure and form remaining largely intact. Design intervention included a reimagining of the original 1950s postand-beam structure, where new design details, construction methods, and materials are expressed and celebrated for their beauty in a raw and honest state. The addition is a simple, modern form that is placed slightly off axis from the original, clearly demarcating the boundary between the two, old and new, to the rear of the house. This division is pronounced on the exterior by the dark fibre cement Swisspearl cladding and on the interior by a subtle change in floor elevation and floor treatment.

MTA Subway Chinatown Station, San Francisco California, USA
MTA Subway Chinatown Station | San Francisco, CA, USA
MTA Subway Chinatown Station | San Francisco, CA, USA

Public transit projects are typically led by engineering firms, but DLR Group architects played a key role in the planning of the 2.7-kilometer route. Located on a tight footprint, the station had to provide all the necessary functionality while reflecting the unique culture of San Francisco’s Chinatown, an internationally renowned tourist attraction that is home to 15,000 Chinese Americans.

To celebrate the station’s curved form, DLR Group managed to find alternatives to having a dropped ceiling or columns to contain the necessary ductwork and utilities. The arch that extends across the platforms and subway tracks is clad with white Swisspearl fibre cement panels that conceal utility lines and bring lightness and luminescence to the space. Swisspearl panels were specified due to their good fire protection values, durability, and high-quality surface coating that is relatively insensitive to dirt and pollution.

Wheaton Government Center, Wheaton, MD, US
Wheaton Government Center | Wheaton, MD, USA
Wheaton Government Center | Wheaton, MD, USA

Held between two primary vehicular corridors, the Wheaton Office Building eschews conventional downtown office buildings with their glass curtainwalls and precast panels for a dynamic, rainscreen clad building that resonates with Wheaton’s industrial past. The facade is composed of an energy-efficient rainscreen system of Swisspearl panels in warm shades of orange and red and high-performance glazing. The roof is planted, and the site includes bio-retention areas that clean and filter storm water and surface runoff. The project was conceived as a catalyst for urban renewal in Wheaton and a symbol for the future of Montgomery County.

Peamount Healthcare Facility, Dublin, Ireland
Peamount Healthcare Facility | Dublin, Ireland
Peamount Healthcare Facility | Dublin, Ireland

STW’s design for Peamount Healthcare Facility is the outcome of empathy; seeking to understand the challenges, capabilities, and experiences of the users. STW’s approach relates across all scales, from the building as a whole, down to the finest detail. Each bed has a view of the estate’s parkland surroundings. The central courtyards around which all the accommodations are organized are light filled oases of calm. The play of crisp rendered facades, large, horizontally mounted Swisspearl fibre cement panels and fenestration express the building’s planning grid and at the same time mediate between the need for durable finishes and softer, more tactile ones. In response to the dementia-friendly design brief for the facility, STW utilized a software to determine suitable light reflectance value contrasts between materials and finishes.

On Clark, Christchurch, New Zealand
On Clark | Christchurch, New Zealand
On Clark | Christchurch, New Zealand

Comfort and light in daily routines were emphasized in the planning of Sumner House in Christchurch. The house is situated on a flood plain and therefore needed to be raised above the ground. The connection with the street front allows interaction with neighbours and passersby while still maintaining a sense of security. The external materials were chosen for their low-maintenance and durability in the coastal environment, which weathers materials quickly. These materials include prefabricated Swisspearl panels in a silvery grey colour, a thermally modified timber rainscreen, cedar weatherboards, and pre-finished steel roof cladding. Since the Swisspearl panels are prefabricated and the timber floor cassettes and wall and roof panels were built off-site in the builder’s warehouse, the total construction time was minimized to a mere six months.

Children Clinical University Hospital, Riga, Latvia
Children Clinical University Hospital | Riga, Latvia
Children Clinical University Hospital | Riga, Latvia

Riga’s Rehabilitation Clinic is a unit of the Children’s Clinical University Hospital, which is the largest children’s medical institution in Latvia. The four-story masonry building, built in 1910, has been adapted to new functions and has been extended with a single-story volume, staircase extension, and new elevator shaft. To tie in with the surrounding environment and the existing building, the extension of the clinic is clad in fibre cement panels. Swisspearl was chosen due to its quality, aesthetics, and versatility. The dark grey contrasts with the ochre masonry. The upper section of the cladding is perforated, thus creating a variety of textures and visually separating the roof volume.

Beachside House, Westport, Connecticut, USA
Beachside House | Westport, CT, USA
Beachside House | Westport, CT, USA

As its name indicates, Beachside sits on the shore, facing the Long Island Sound that separates Connecticut and New York’s Long Island. The house happens to be just down the road from Red Barn, the small “outbuilding” with art studio and accommodation designed by Ferris and featured in Swisspearl Architecture #27. Ferris says the Swisspearl panels covering the walls and roof of that earlier building enabled him to create an abstraction of “the ultimate red barn.” If the client for Beachside was aware of Red Barn or not is unimportant, since the architect was inclined to take a similar approach to the newer house, aiming for an abstraction of New England vernacular architecture in the gable forms covered in light-coloured fibre cement panels. Instead of a bold architectural statement recalling the state’s agricultural vernacular, Beachside’s relatively subdued imagery and relaxed floor plan harken to the houses in Kelly’s book, or to a farmhouse that would have sat in proximity to a working barn. Beachside consists of four gable volumes with zinc roofs and shorter, flat-roofed glazed corridors linking them. The main approach to the house from the north leads to a two-story glass entry and glimpses of a thick interior wall with punched openings free of glass that correspond to the abstracted traditional windows set into the gable volumes.

Torre Estronci, Barcelona, Spain
Torre Estronci | Barcelona, Spain
Torre Estronci | Barcelona, Spain

Torre Estronci 91 is located in an affluent area in Barcelona, l’Hospitalet de LLobregat. The apartments offer the ideal combination of modernity, quality, comfort, and energy efficiency. Aesthetically speaking, the characteristic feature of the block is the ribbons of horizontal Swisspearl panels alternating in white and black that encircle the building, making a strong graphic impression. The black areas incorporate the black-framed fenestration while the white strips clad the projecting balconies. This projecting and recessing of the facades creates a sense of relief on the elevations and prevents the block from being perceived as a monolithic volume.

Lakes Edge, Queenstown, New Zealand
Lakes Edge | Queenstown, New Zealand
Lakes Edge | Queenstown, New Zealand

Perched on a narrow, sloping site above Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, New Zealand, Lakes Edge House enjoys superb views of the lake and the surrounding mountainous landscape. With its timber-clad base and dark Swisspearl-clad upper level, the house seems to hover precariously above the site.

Wiki House, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Wiki House | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Wiki House | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

As a society, we face huge construction challenges: we not only need to build millions of homes, schools, and other buildings, but these buildings need to be low-energy, low-carbon, and built to maximize our wellbeing. Wiki House in Mongolia has been constructed using a digitally manufactured building technology with low carbon emissions, minimizing heat loss and waste. It is also energy efficient and was easy to construct.

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