Case Study: University of Louisville Novak Center for Children's Health

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Sep 12, 2019

Opened in the summer of 2018, the state-of-the-art eight-story building is home to U of L Physicians pediatric specialty clinical practices. The Argeton Terracotta facade features 15 custom glazed colors brilliantly featured on exterior walls and soffits. The colorful environment is designed to put children at ease and give them access to some of the top pediatric specialists and primary care providers in the nation.

Project: U of L Novak Center

Location: Louisville, KY

Architect: GBBN Architects

Sub-Contractor: Messer Construction

Project Type: University Medical

Completion: Date 2018

Architectural Systems: Argeton Rainscreen Façade & Terracotta Sunscreen

The Novak Center is home to seven clinical levels and a rooftop garden and conference center. Every element of the building, from the warm, inviting colored terracotta rainscreen tiles on the exterior to each room, that the children enters was chosen with care, compassion and years of studying the very best facilities throughout the country. The designers, physicians and caregivers were determined to build a place where children could go to feel safe and cared for during some of the most challenging times of their lives.

Planning for the building began in January 2015 under the meticulous eye of architectural firms GBBN, Stanley, Beaman & Sears and Messer Construction Co. Firms were chosen because of their extensive experience in building and designing health care facilities for children.

As the premier pediatrics care building in the state of Kentucky, the Novak Center provides parents easy access to pediatric specialists and primary care providers in one location, with everything designed specifically for children and their families. It is our intent that through this center we will be building the future of pediatric care for years to come.



While rainscreen façades are becoming more and more common in medical facilities the use of the high performance terracotta rainscreens has become a popular, efficient and cost effective solution. Along with the increased efficiencies and energy savings the terracotta gives a warm, natural, and welcoming appearance to any building and in the case of the Novak Center, a colorful visual for our children.

Design

Over 15,000 terracotta panels make up this stunning facade. Working closely with the Architects and Contractor, 5 base colors in 3 shades each were initially developed and modified until a harmonious combination was found. Creating this many custom colors required direct contact with the manufacturer in Goerlitz, Germany. Telling Architectural Systems and Argeton welcomed the challenge and after several glaze trials, multiple shades of Teal, Red, Green, White and Yellow were selected.

Innovative facade solution

The durability is just as persuasive as the contemporary aesthetic: our ceramic facade panels are impervious to weather, impact-proof and shatterproof and require virtually no maintenance. Durable and timeless, they are a dream for every architect – especially since facades are available in every imaginable color, shape and surface.

Kristofer Johnson, Vice President, Telling Architectural Systems
"Color matching and selection was a welcome challenge, we were tasked to develop many samples before the perfect combination was found. Constant communication and a total team effort resulted in a spectacular project that we are extremely proud of."

Argeton terracotta rainscreen system is the worlds original terracotta rainscreen. Developed in Germany over three decades ago Argeton has been installed on thousands of projects worldwide. The Telling organization is based in New York and headquartered in the UK. Telling has been an Argeton distributor for over twenty years and supplies technical support to the design team and installer base.

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