April 23, 2009

CAMBRIDGE ARCHITECTURAL

Wire mesh’s durability and ability to withstand extreme weather in building envelope applications is demonstrated by its use in the Winnipeg Airport parking facility, above.

Building Envelope

Wire mesh popularity growing with diversity of applications

PETER KENTER

correspondent

Woven stainless steel metal mesh is a versatile building material used for reasons as diverse as security or aesthetics, but increasingly it’s being used as a building envelope material, promoting sustainability and a reduction in solar heat gain.

Closed, tight weaves can block illumination completely, while open patterns allow a specified amount of light to pass through. Where it’s used alone as the sole building envelope material, wire mesh offers unrestricted ventilation while providing an enclosed appearance.

“It’s still a fairly new product for building envelopes in North America,” says Larry Windsor, director of sales and business development at Cambridge Architectural Ltd. of Cambridge, Md., the world’s largest manufacturer of woven metal products for industrial and architectural applications.

“An architect needs to know a little about the product and like the look of it before they consider using it — although one of the cool things about the product is the way it looks in various lighting conditions.”

The company was founded almost 100 years ago, manufacturing wire cloth for filters. In 1956, the Otis Elevator company approached the enterprise to provide a durable metal mesh product for the inside of elevator cabs used in New York’s lavish Seagram Building skyscraper.

“We were in that business for about 45 years,” says Windsor. “If you look at those elevators today, the product looks as good as the day it was installed.”

Architectural mesh façade products were already established in Europe, but as local demand for the product declined in the mid- to late-1990s, some manufacturers began to promote these products in North America.

“As these design trends began to gain momentum here, we established our architectural division in 2002,” says Windsor. “While they were largely supplying only the product, we offered it as part of a design-build or design-assist package. Working hand-in-hand with architects we added value engineering and tried to make the integration of the product as seamless as possible.”

Because the mesh can be used in many types of applications, much of the design effort goes into decisions about how the product will be fastened to the structure.

“The most time-consuming part is the attachments themselves,” says Windsor. “Once the fastening system is designed and installed, the mesh goes up quickly. On a recent job in Harrisburg, Penn., we installed 6,000 to 7,000 square feet (550 to 650 square metres) of mesh per day. We often install, but we can also provide a project manager to go to the job site and oversee the sub-trades who are performing the installation.”

Stainless steel can be interwoven with brass, bronze and copper for different visual effects. The mesh can also be used on its own in parkade structures, or installed over and under glazing as a solar shield.

One of the company’s signature Canadian installations is the four-level, 1,600-space parkade at Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, completed in 2006. Built by PCL Constructors Canada and designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates, the parkade is wrapped in metal mesh that forms the cladding for the structure.

“This is the first airport project in Canada, and one of the first airports in North America, to target Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) certification,” says Windsor.

“Our woven metal mesh contributes to the sustainable attributes of the redevelopment. From a LEED standpoint, this is stainless steel that’s 100 per cent recyclable, and made of recycled content to begin with. It meets building codes and offers a closed look, while there’s no additional strain on the HVAC system to prevent carbon dioxide from entering the stairwells.”

Windsor says the company uses the Winnipeg project as a demonstration of the ability of metal mesh to withstand winter conditions.

“Some people are concerned that the mesh will hold on to ice and snow, but the openness of the mesh and the geometry of the holes doesn’t allow snow to cake to it,” he says.

“When potential clients ask us if the mesh will hold up in harsh weather, we just point to the Winnipeg airport and tell them, ‘this is about as harsh as it comes.’ ”

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