Engineered attachment systems
For coiled-wire fabric, engineered attachment systems are primarily manufactured from steel to achieve certain objectives:
- present the panels in a specific manner (e.g. curved or flat);
- hold the panels in a static state or enable motion; and
- achieve specific performance requirements (including attachment frequency, solar shading, or impact resistance).
Even when customized attachment systems are necessary, coiled-wire fabric’s lightness and flexibility offers opportunities to visually experiment with the material. The functional results include reduced installation time, reduced labor costs, and a far less structurally demanding system. Additionally, pre-engineered attachment systems are delivered with shorter lead times than most other architectural exterior and interior systems.
Defining flexible space and creating drama
When the Hilton Tower Bridge in London, England, recently decided to build a bar/lounge called TwoRuba, it turned to interior design studio, AfroditiKrassa Ltd. The firm selected an architectural coiled-wire fabric system as an “innovative design element,” employing it to define flexible space that “transforms seamlessly” from casual coffee house during the day to a sleek bar and lounge at night.
“We chose an innovative, eco-friendly, and hardwearing bronze ‘drapery’ to work alongside a central catwalk area that links all three levels of the bar from which the entire space is articulated,” said the studio’s founder, Afroditi Krassa, of the project, which opened in September 2014. “To emphasize this strong sense of direction, lighting pendants rhythmically dress the ceiling and guide customers through the space.”
Similarly, architectural coiled-wire fabric systems were installed in the newest iPic Theater locations on this side of the Atlantic. Recognized for their architecturally striking décor, these luxury cinemas attract a prestigious roster of celebrity clientele and moviegoers. The complete experience, which includes chef-driven cuisine served directly to customers inside the theater, more closely resembles the feeling of stepping into a stylish hotel or lounge versus a traditional movie theater.
The coiled-wire fabric can be viewed when entering the new iPic Theater on Wilshire Boulevard in the Westwood area of Los Angeles. The dramatic effect begins inside the lobby where guests are treated to the images of fabled movie stars projected onto the assembly.
The suspended coiled-wire fabric consists of 19-gauge galvanized steel with 4.8-mm (3⁄16-in.) scale. The fabric features three different finishes—antique copper, satin bronze, and silver-toned—and is affixed to the ceiling using an engineered attachment system in a curved orientation.
Canvas and catalyst
A nearby project, the Vermont luxury high-rise apartments and retail space, uses a coiled-wire fabric system in an undulating profile as both the façade to its parking garage and as the canvas for a work of art entitled, “Los Angeles Opens its Heart of Compassion.” In this case, Venice, California-based Cliff Garten served as both architect and artist.
A suspended 6.1-m (20-ft) tall sculpture is the centerpiece; it is made of 100 laser-cut aluminum ‘lotus petals’ extending outward from a steel armature. The sculpture is framed by the coiled-wire fabric assembly, described as a 23 x 14-m (75 x 45-ft) ‘screen’ by the design studio. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) showcase the art from the front, side, and back. As described in a Cliff Garten Studio publication:
The sculpture is bathed in an intense white light, while the screen and its corresponding line drawing move through a light show of rich, changing colors. The swells of color captured by the curving screen deepen in relation to the amount of natural daylight.
Completed earlier this year, the Vermont is located in Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood. Garten, who described the material as “intriguing,” says the use of the lotus blossom image was meant to reflect a recurrent theme in Korean art.
