Architect 2014-07.pdf

72
CENTER
ARCHITECT THE AIA MAGAZINE JULY 2014 WWW.ARCHITECTMAGAZINE.COM
irregularly on its foundation, as it has since its
completion in 1929.
The most challenging aspect of building
the auditorium, which took 18 months, was
the need to accommodate the grid-based
framework within walls that were not parallel.
All steel framing had to be carefully assembled
on-site to ensure that the support structure
would not appear off-grid. So the team
mounted the framework diagonally to create
the illusion that both sides of the room run
parallel—“an illusion that everything aligns,”
says SCDA designer Darren Yio.
Local contractor Lai Yew Seng used offthe-shelf,
100-millimeter-by-100-millimeter
and 200-millimeter-by-100-millimeter steel
0 5 10
square hollow sections (SHS), wide-flanged
beams, 50-millimeter-by-50-millimeter angles
and powdercoated, expanded aluminum
mesh screens with 40-millimeter-wide-by-
10-millimeter-tall hexagonal openings. The
screens were custom cut on-site into the
trianglular pattern to fit the existing conditions
of the historical building, and are between
approximately 24 and 95 inches tall, and up to
24 inches wide.
LED strips affix to the standard steel
channels within the framework. Though the
designers specified the mesh to allow air to
circulate from the mechanical infrastructure at
the ceiling, Chan says, the finish also boosts the
auditorium’s acoustics.
The aluminum mesh
screens were sized and
cut on-site to ensure
its grid-based support
framing looked in line with
the existing space’s nonparallel
sidewalls.
COURTESY SCDA ARCHITECTS