Windy City High Rises Stand Tall
Chicago, IL is home to awe-inspiring architecture – from historical buildings that are centuries old to countless modern skyscrapers. Among the latest structures to pierce the sky in the windy city: The new Wanda Vista Towers. At 101 stories tall, one of the trio of buildings north of Millennium Park is among the tallest in the city. All three structures include residences and retail establishments for discerning city dwellers who seek an urban living environment.
All-In-One Solution
The height of the tallest building meant its potential to sway back and forth had to be considered in the design phase. Architects chose to make Floors 83 and 84 of the building as blow-through floors to allow air to move through the building and reduce swaying. These floors were designed to be primarily open so that they disrupt and reduce wind effects on that floor and for several stories above and below. Metl-Span insulated metal Panels provided an all-in-one solution for thermal insulation with air, water, and a high R-value, which ultimately reduces costs.
“Ultimately, we went with the IMP solution because of the 3-in-1 benefit that other options don’t provide,” said Mike Underwood, vice president at All American Exterior Solutions. “It was a simple solution that could help get the building up to code fairly quickly.”
For the blow-through floors and top floor of the tallest building , crews installed CF Mesa panels. Mesa was chosen for this project due to its ability to produce a higher R-value that creates a climate-controlled, energy-efficient space. The project team specified Mesa panels in Blue Tahoe to create a rippling wave effect, designed to complement the building’s location of being along the river.
Metl-Span insulated metal panels were also the cladding choice for portions of interior and exterior sections of the Wanda Vista Towers, with 18,000 square feet of panel ultimately being integrated into a glass curtainwall.
Crews installed CF Architectural Wall panels on the exterior of the East towers on floors 1-3 and floors 10-11. On the West tower, the architectural panels were used to finished floor 11. CF Architectural Panels offer a long-lasting, sustainable solution that helps enhance any architectural design. Metl-Span fabricated a custom-colored Blue Ash panel for sections of the building, a crucial design element for the building.
The size of the project made installation an important consideration for the project management team.
“With a job this big, that is in a very tight area, delivery and installation is always a challenge, so we needed a supplier that could keep up with our demand in product and our timeline,” Underwood said.
Metl-Span met the stringent demands for timely delivery of products and ensured crews could efficiently install the panels once they were on site.
On the Way Up
Crews broke ground on Wanda Vista Towers in 2016. The complex opened in 2020.
Market Segment: Mixed Use
Installer: Hennessy Sheet Metal
Architect: Studio Gang Architects
Dealer: KMK Sales
Contractor: All American Exterior Solutions
Products Used: CF Architectural, CF Mesa
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