Case Study: Value Engineered Faux Terracotta Façade, Fairfax, VA Commuter Center

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Feb 22, 2025

Fairfax County, VA sought to build a commuter center for transit riders in the region. Because the desired appearance was a terracotta baguette façade, EXTECH offered an aluminum terracotta finished system as a value engineered option for the 262,000 SF commuter parking garage and transit center.

EXTECH developed a panelized system to reduce costs and installation time. The terracotta appearance was achieved by using a textured terracotta fluoropolymer finish by PPG on custom profiled aluminum extrusions.

These extrusion profiles were made to match the 3 unique terracotta profiles the architect had designed. The system was engineered to accommodate garage structure differential deflections and cladding system thermal movement by incorporating a unique sliding clip into the extrusions.

The individual vertical aluminum tube profiles varied from 2” x 4” to 6” x 12”. To cover the entirety of the exterior, over 4000 vertical tubes were installed. The larger, pre-assembled panels consisted of 738 units, varying up to 11’-8” tall and up to 7’-6” wide.

In addition to the façade, EXTECH also manufactured a 10,000 SF bus canopy for the parking facility. The standalone bus canopy system features the SKYSHADE 2500, EXTECH’s fully fabricated aluminum framing system and glass canopy. The canopy was segmented into 9 inner and 9 outer gull-wing shaped segments, to create a curved canopy with a 6.6 degree pitch.

To further provide comfort for commuters, EXTECH manufactured building canopies for the entrances of the facility. Each canopy features a single slope, with a glass overhang with a flat pitch. Once installed, the system achieved the popular terracotta appearance in a very cost-effective

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