University City Science Center expands "Eds and Meds hub," features Wausau's INvision curtainwall and ClearStory sun shades

The building intends to achieve LEED® Silver certification for environmental and energy efficient design, and is expected to be completed in June 2014.  

Designed by the internationally renowned architecture firm of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects (ZGF) in cooperation with UJMN Architects + Designers, the building is owned by the Science Center and its joint venture partner, Wexford Science + Technology, LLC. Penn Presbyterian Medical Center will be the anchor tenant in this 14-story facility.



General contractor INTECH Construction  broke ground in September 2012 and is on schedule for next summer’s  grand opening. The 295,000-square-foot structure will contain outpatient  medical facilities, ground-floor retail, and office and laboratory  space for start-up and growing companies. It also serves as an integral  part of the transit-oriented neighborhood taking shape in the city’s  western edge, adjacent to the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel  University. Established in 1963, the Science Center was the first, and  remains the largest, urban research park in the United States  encompassing 17 acres.



Wausau’s curtainwall and sun shade products support the Science Center’s 3737 Market Street project in reaching its  on-time completion and in pursuing Silver certification through the  U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating System for New  Construction. These products combine the benefits of natural light and  outside views with recycled content, low-emitting materials and energy  optimization.



Pennsylvania-based glazing contractor R.A. Kennedy  and Sons is installing 130,000 square feet of Wausau’s aluminum-framed  curtainwall systems. Of this total, the significant majority of the  building is enveloped in Wausau’s INvision™ 7250i-UW Series thermal unitized curtainwall.  The units typically are off-loaded at the project site using the main  construction crane, then erected by stacking individual panels  vertically and horizontally, resulting in a four-way-stack-joint design.

R.A.  Kennedy and Sons began the curtainwall installation at the second  floor, moving upward, and then finishing with the ground floor. “The  largest frames are 5-foot-3-inches wide by 22-foot-10-inches tall,  weighing roughly 1,500 pounds,” says Al Batten, project manager at R.A.  Kennedy and Sons. “These are being installed on the East elevation,  which abuts an existing building. This eastern side goes from the fifth  floor to the penthouse. At the penthouse mechanical screen area, some of  the units are 7-by-18-feet -- not as big, but 14 stories in the air.”



“Using  INvision unitized curtainwall, handling for each unit is minimized,  which decreases the opportunity for a mishap and saves time overall.  Installation time is a fraction of that necessary for field-glazed  systems,” explains Wausau’s health care market manager, Lisa May, LEED  Green Associate.



INvision unitized curtainwall systems’  interlocking frame design accommodates seismic, live load and thermal  building movements. For 3737 Market Street, the INvision 7250i-UW  curtainwall needed to be engineered with a custom horizontal unit stack  at each level, accommodating 1-inch of total vertical movement. For  long-term durability, vertical movement -- as well as horizontal  movement -- is taken through gasketed slip joints, not through slippage  of glass within glazing pockets or extension or compression of sealant  joints. This four-side silicone structural-glazed system features 3-inch  mullion sightlines and 6.25-inch frame depths that incorporate  polyamide thermal barriers, which contribute to a building’s thermal  performance, condensation resistance and energy efficiency.



May  adds, “New Model Energy Codes are being adopted by local and state  jurisdictions nationwide, demanding improved curtainwall framing thermal  performance. When glazed with spectrally selective, low-emissivity  insulating glass units and a thermal barrier, INvision systems meet the  most stringent of thermal requirements -- even in northern climate zones  -- and help address sustainable design goals for many buildings.”



A combination of Viracon  glass types is used to facilitate 3737 Market Street’s daylighting and  energy efficiency objectives. In the vision areas, 1-inch,  low-emissivity insulating VRE1-46 glass was specified. In the spandrel  areas, where the insulating glass conceals the structural columns and  floors, Viraspan™ factory-applied, fire-fused ceramic frit paint was  applied in high-opacity white and in medium gray.



Further contributing to project’s green goals, the ClearStory™ sun shade  blades are engineered as an integral part of the curtainwall systems.  Sun shades provide shading from direct sunlight, glare protection and  daylight redirection, and help to reduce HVAC peak loads with  corresponding reductions in mechanical equipment capacity and carbon  footprint.



“These are not your traditional, horizontal sun  shades,” notes Batten. “Rather, these are custom, 9-inch-deep,  vertically installed, angular covers. They are key elements in the  building’s aesthetic on the South and West elevations.”

To ensure the proper integration of sun shades and curtainwall, Wausau developed 3-D printed “rapid prototypes” from CAD data.  “The opposite of traditional, subtractive manufacturing, which produces  objects by cutting material away, 3-D printing is an additive process,  where the printer extrudes and deposits molten thermoplastic in layers  to build the part from the bottom up,” explains Wausau’s educational  market manager, Steve Gille.



3-D printing is “big advantage that  Wausau can offer,” says Batten. “The 3-D printing was extremely helpful  as the project has many custom profiles. Typically, these are seen and  approved using 2-D shop drawings. Utilizing 3-D printing allowed Wausau  to print a visual sample showing the new profiles along with the  existing profiles. This allowed the architect, owner and construction  manager to see what the final assembly will look like before any  material was actually produced.”



Once approved, Wausau began the  manufacturing process using recycled aluminum. Supporting the project’s  sustainability goals, the curtainwalls’ aluminum framing and sun shade  blades contain recycled content  averaging 70% or greater. These are fabricated in Wausau’s LEED-Silver  certified manufacturing center to ensure the desired performance, and  are backed with a standard limited warranty of up to 10 years.



Contributing to the systems’ durability, Linetec  is finishing all of the aluminum framing and sun shades in a PPG  Duranar® Sunstorm™ Silver three-coat paint. As a 70% polyvinylidene  fluoride (PVDF) resin-based coating, this finish meets American  Architectural Manufacturers Association’s AAMA-2605 -- the most  stringent, exterior, architectural specification. PVDF finishes exhibit  outstanding resistance to humidity, color change, chalk, gloss loss and  chemicals.



As an environmentally conscious finisher, Linetec  safely captures and destroys the VOCs present in liquid solvent-based  paints at the factory before arrival on the building site. Wausau’s  finished products comply with indoor environmental quality credits for  low-emitting materials with respect to LEED criteria.

The silver  colored, aluminum and glass curtainwall maintains the architectural  vernacular of the surrounding buildings, complemented by the granite  stone veneer that will clad 3737 Market Street’s ground floor. Familiar  with the neighborhood’s aesthetic and the development, ZGF and UJMN have  partnered on several projects in Philadelphia’s University City  district.



At 180,000 people, Philadelphia has the third largest  residential population among Central Business Districts in the U.S. The  area is flush with academic researchers, healthcare institutions and  life science and technology companies. According to the Science Center’s  2013 annual review,  $9.4 billion in annual regional economic output is generated by its  graduate and resident organizations. Eight thousand people work on the  Science Center’s campus every day and the 93 graduate companies that are  located in the greater Philadelphia region employ 15,000 people.



The  new 3737 Market Street tower will be the 15th building in the research  park and part of its more than 2 million square feet of laboratory and  office space. The new construction also marks a dramatic expansion of  Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC), adding more than 150,000 square  feet of state-of-the-art outpatient surgery, treatment and  rehabilitation facilities, including nearly 110 exam rooms, six  outpatient operating rooms and an outpatient radiology center. Good  Shepherd Penn Partners will occupy an additional floor and a half in the  building. A restaurant and shops will lease approximately 6,000 square  feet of retail space on the ground floor.



The Science Center and  Wexford Science + Technology will control the remaining square footage  in the building for other uses related to the Science Center’s mission  of supporting tech-based innovation, entrepreneurship and economic  development in the region. Along with emboldening the Science Center’s  mission and pursuing LEED Silver certification, 3737 Market Street  addresses additional community-driven aspirations.



The University City district has a Sustainability Steering Committee  to coordinate efforts guided by Mayor Michael A. Nutter’s Greenworks  Philadelphia agenda to become the greenest city in America. These goals  include:

* Assisting businesses with energy efficiency improvements that reduce consumption and save money;

* Hosting workshops for businesses and residents, and providing training for local youth and adults;

* Increasing recycling, composting the leaves that are collected each  fall, and making compost and mulch available to community gardens;

* Sponsoring a new Farmers Market and promoting access to local healthy food;

* Improving use of area parks, including more than 33,000 square feet of concrete repurposed for social spaces;

* Promoting transit use and making University City more walkable by installing new pedestrian lights and bump-outs; and

* Creating green streets by constructing rain gardens, greening traffic  islands, planting trees and installing sidewalk planters.



The  Science Center also has partnered with the City of Philadelphia’s  “ReStore Philadelphia Corridors” program, and with neighboring landlords  and property owners to revitalize the Market Street streetscape,  enhance its infrastructure and increase safety.



“Our mission is to  create a community of innovators and entrepreneurs,” said Stephen S.  Tang, Ph.D., MBA, the Science Center’s president and CEO. “Over time the  shape of those innovation communities has changed. They are no longer  just places to work.”

He added, “Penn Presbyterian’s expansion  onto the Science Center campus strengthens University City’s  unparalleled reputation as an Eds and Meds hub. We are delighted that  we’ll be celebrating the Science Center’s 50th anniversary in 2013 with  construction cranes on our campus. It sends a positive message about the  economic recovery, job creation and the desirability of University City  as an innovation center.”



“This expansion will provide PPMC  faculty and staff with the infrastructure necessary to better serve the  Powelton Avenue, West Philadelphia, and even the Greater Philadelphia  communities,” noted Michele Volpe, CEO of Penn Presbyterian Medical  Center. “Since PPMC was founded in 1871, it has proved to be a leader in  providing top-quality patient care. Our new building will only further  reinforce our commitments to excellence, our patients and our  community.”



“We are very excited to continue our partnership with  the Science Center with the development of 3737 Market,” echoed James R.  Berens, chairman of Wexford Science + Technology. “The project, as a  mix of clinical, research and office uses, is a perfect match to the  Science Center’s mission and Wexford’s capabilities -- and is a great  opportunity to cultivate University City and Philadelphia’s innovation  cluster.”



At the Association of University Research Parks’ awards  ceremony in September 2013, Wexford Science + Technology was presented  with a “Leadership Award” for its “outstanding contribution to the  success and total community impact of multiple university research and  technology parks.” The University City Science Center also was honored  as the 2013 “Developing the Culture of Innovation Award” for “50 years  helping entrepreneurs to invent the future by providing both the  physical space and the key resources needed to help commercialize new  technologies throughout the Greater Philadelphia region.”

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University City Science Center, 3737 Market St., Philadelphia

* Owner – joint venture:  University City Science Center; Philadelphia; https://www.sciencecenter.org

and Wexford Science + Technology; Baltimore; http://wexfordscitech.com

* Architect:  Zimmer Gunsul Frasca (ZGF) Architects; https://www.zgf.com/

* Associate architect:  UJMN Architects + Designers; Philadelphia; http://www.ujmn.com

* General contractor:  INTECH Construction; Philadelphia; http://www.intechconstruction.com

* Glazing contractor:  R.A. Kennedy and Sons, Inc.; Aston, Pa.

* Glazing systems – manufacturer: Wausau Window and Wall Systems,  7250i-UW Series thermal unitized curtainwall, 10250 Series structural  silicone glazed curtainwall, ClearStory sun shades; Wausau, Wis.; http://www.wausauwindow.com

* Glazing systems – glass: Viracon; Owatonna, Minn.; http://www.viracon.com

* Glazing systems – finisher: Linetec, Wausau, Wis.; http://www.linetec.com

* Photographer:  R.A. Kennedy and Sons, Inc.; Aston, Pa.