Photos courtesy Citadel Architectural Products
Brand recognition is front and center at the Springfield Town Center in Springfield, Virginia, thanks to a makeover that included silver-color metal composite material (MCM) panels.
About 2453 m2 (26,000 sf) of proprietary panels were installed at the 120,774-m2 (1.3-million-sf) shopping mall, which features more than 85 specialty retailers and serves the most populous region of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.
Built in the early 1970s, the building was due for a makeover. The composite panels were specified to offer a high-end look without stealing attention from the brightly colored, branded storefronts.
“Each retailer is responsible for its own storefront, so we were responsible for the neutral or common areas of the renovation,” says Louis Margitan, RA, NCARB, senior associate at JPRA Architects in Farmington Hills, Michigan. “Our job was to downplay to the retailers so their brands pop.”
Developed for exterior use, the composite panel is manufactured by bonding an aluminum skin to a substrate of thermoset phenolic resin. A second skin is added as a backer and provides thermal stability and panel balance. Margitan says the resin core provides impact resistance regarding hail.
According to the installer, the only challenge involved the areas where the bridges come to the buildings, since the portals had panels on the exterior, the interior, and on the ceiling. Adjustments were made onsite to accommodate the difference between the structure and the drawings.
“There’s always going to be some hidden existing conditions with a renovation, so there were some minor field modifications, but that’s standard with a renovation like this,” Margitan says. “A renovation will always provide a challenge that doesn’t exist in a new construction project where you’re building from the ground up.”
