Building additions and expansions blend a sensitivity to tradition with the demands of new construction. These combined challenges may be further strained when the goal is to replicate the look of existing windows.

Distinctive characteristics are noted. Current sizes, shapes, configurations, operation, muntins’ spacing and profiles, framing members’ depth, glass hue and reflectivity, blinds, hardware, finishes, colors, and more, must all be mimicked. 

Complicating the effort, a building expansion may be decades apart from its predecessor. Previously used materials may no longer be in supply, or may have become obsolete due to technological advances, performance improvements or other shifting trends. Educational and healthcare applications provide the most common examples of facilities striving to maintain an established appearance for the whole campus, while continuing adding on to service their communities’ evolving needs.

Healthy Growth
To cite one example, West Virginia University Hospitals (WVUH) has responded to an expanding community and demands for additional capacity. Straddling both academic and healthcare purposes, WVUH’s Health Sciences in Morgantown underwent the largest expansion to its Ruby Memorial Hospital since it was first built in 1988. 

“In the 1980s, WVUH wanted something uniquely different from the old, adjacent 1950s hospital building, which had a strong Modernist patina with clear glass, clear anodize finish on the mullions and light gray masonry,” explains John Sausen, principal in the architectural firm Omni Associates of Fairmont, W.Va. “In contrast, the new hospital was designed in red brick and green glass. Since that time, there have been a number of smaller additions and outbuildings across the campus.”

Although Omni had not worked on these prior structures, Sausen has a personal connection with the healthcare campus. “My dad was a professor at the old hospital in the dentistry department. I watched during the ’80s as the new facility was built.”

With such familiarity, Sausen and Omni Associates wanted to create an addition that would reflect the hospital’s place in the community, acknowledging its history, while adapting to future needs. An eight-story tower was constructed at the northeast corner of the hospital and several of the existing hospital’s narrower, upper floors were expanded to duplicate the full size of the lower floors. In total, the expansion added 180,000 square feet of patient care and support space.

“The hospital said that we were free to recommend almost any design. For the new century, we thought the addition should be different, yet complementary. The geometry and style are quite different, but not contrasting with the original,” explains Sausen. 

Repeating Patterns
Ruby Memorial Hospital’s existing facility has a horizontal strip of ribbon windows. The spandrel units narrow in size to hide interior columns, while an 11-story, glass curtainwall clads the vertical elevator core. Detouring from this rectilinear pattern, Omni Associates took a cue from the 1950s hospital and employed a variegated, mosaic pattern.

Sausen continues, “Every floor has a different purpose and configuration. Even on the same floor, rooms are different sizes. To accommodate these variations, we chose a random pattern window system with full panes of glass for vision areas and spandrel where we wanted to blank-out the background.”

Unifying elements that ease the transition from old to new include the red brick and green glass. “The original glass manufacturer was bought by PPG, and we were able to get something very close to the original, nearly identical in color. The window system was manufactured by Wausau, which also had supplied the system during 1980s, so they were able to match the exact details,” says Sausen. The reflective glass and green Kynar finish of the new product matched the existing windows. 

Performance Review
Wausau’s previous work was an asset, but not a guarantee that it would be the chosen fabricator. “They were one of several competing for the project,” explains Sausen. “We like to bring in manufacturers early in our design process to talk about options and features. What’s it going to look like? How is it going to be installed? We want to understand how it functions, fits, and connects with the overall design. Sooner or later you have to deal with these issues, so we like to address them sooner. We are trying to avoid problems during the construction phase. If you have to fix an error during this stage, it can get expensive.” 

As an example, Sausen says that Ruby Memorial Hospital’s new window system features a between-glass blind for sun control with minimal maintenance. “Sometime, someone is going to have to access them. We wanted to be sure we knew how this would work. Is there a panel, a hinge or some other mechanism? Does it affect performance?” Once Omni established the specification, it had a standard with which to evaluate the competing manufacturers.

With nearly 20 years of improved glass technology since Ruby Memorial’s initial construction, the addition’s new window system “performs better as far as heat loss, heat gain and shading,” says Sausen.

“As an architect, I want buildings to be relevant, to mean something to the people who use these buildings. It means as much to me when I hear a family member or a friend who stayed overnight in the hospital tell me that their experience was less difficult because of the hospital’s design. As one friend recent said, ‘It feels good in here.’”

USG
© Copyright 2006 Key Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
No reproduction of any type without expressed written permission.