Leading U.S. Childrens Hospital Turns to Cambridge Parkade Mesh System for a Striking and Secure Parking Facility Design

CCH Medical Center is one of only ten pediatric hospitals in the United States to be ranked on the Honor Roll of U.S. News and World Reports 2009 edition of Americas Best Childrens Hospitals. The organization continues to grow and has recently constructed new medical office buildings that house its latest practices and also contribute to its ongoing site revitalization. To meet the needs of this growth, and to further match the quality of its facilities with the quality of its care, CCH has employed the most dynamic of architectural elements.

A Cambridge Parkade architectural mesh system clads a new parking garage in a revolutionary basket weave design to provide never-before-seen aesthetics, impressive durability and reliable security for the structure. This is the very first design of its kind by Cambridge, featuring both longitudinal and latitudinal curves of woven metal fabric. The result is an eye-catching building façade that gives the parking garage a unique and experimental look.

The flowing mesh panels arent as soft and delicate as they appear. The stainless steel Parkade system was built to sustain the Cincinnati climate, unfazed by harsh winters and warm, humid summers. Additionally, the mesh system offers unparalleled safety by providing fall protection and transparency allowing views into the well-lit garage deck at night.

The metal fabric by Cambridge offered flexibility, durability and ease of installation in addition to the necessary high openness ratio for the two types of exterior treatments used on our project, says Raffi Tomassian, Designer, of DNK Architects, Inc., the architect of the project. The combination of these factors with a contemporary, shimmering, diaphanous look locked us in on the product.

We love working with top architects like DNK and lending our material to their most inventive designs, says Heather Collins, Director of Marketing for Cambridge Architectural. This project is especially important to us because it presents a groundbreaking visual design without sacrificing performance, making it a truly complete solution.

Cambridge is committed to assisting the design and construction team from initial concept to final installation on each and every project. For the Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center parking garage, Cambridge developed an ideal system to address all the visual and functional needs of the architect. The system was then specifically engineered to the buildings exterior to assure a streamlined installation.

The installation went very smoothly, says Brad Hitzfield, President/CEO of ProCLAD, Inc., the installer of the project. Cambridges attachment design was seamless, user-friendly and delivered the look that the team desired.

It was great working with Cambridge because they responded to our project confidently from the beginning and took a very proactive approach throughout to make sure that our vision was uncompromisingly realized, says Raffi Tomassian.

The Parkade system was fabricated with mesh in Cambridges Stripe and MidBalance pattern, which features large-scaled, flexible open weaves that shade and screen structures including facades, parking garages and pavilions.

Cambridges Eclipse tension attachment hardware was used to install the Stripe and Midbalance product. Tailored edges are provided for expanses of flexible metal fabric in tension. Elegant, custom cut apertures receive the metal fabric ends in tubing that is integrated into a bracket and structural support design. Tube sizes may vary to emphasize or de-emphasize the attachment.

The Eclipse hardware is appropriate for lengths of metal fabric held in tension up to 100 feet. Construction on the Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center parking garage was completed in August 2009. The project team consists of architect DNK Architects, Inc., Cincinnati, OH, construction manager Al. Neyer, Inc., Cincinnati, OH and installer ProCLAD, Inc., Noblesville, IN.

DNKs design and Cambridges material delivers a cutting-edge design there is nothing like it in the parking garage world, says Hitzfield. Youd never think it was a parking garage because the mesh takes your eyes off of the main structure.

About Cambridge Architectural

Cambridge Architectural Parkade metal fabric solutions lend unique aesthetic appeal, functionality, affordability and sustainable benefits to parking structures. As exterior cladding for parking garages, Parkade applications provide ventilation, fall protection, visibility, headlight attenuation, safety, security and many additional functional benefits. Cambridge offers a wide range of metal fabric patterns and corresponding attachment hardware, and is always available for comprehensive design and engineering assistance. With every project, Cambridge provides turn-key installation.

Cambridge Architectural is the worlds most experienced and only full-service provider of sustainable architectural mesh systems for both interior and exterior building applications. Cambridge offers full system design, engineering and collaboration from concept through installation including highly challenging building projects, environments and budgets. Cambridge metal fabric systems are categorized by the primary application the system serves. These include: Parkade, Solucent, LandscapeInteriors, MeshFX, MeshDefense and Meshellaneous.