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By Sara Hart

Kaplan has gleaned the typical ways in which designers work with information about materials. “They often use iteration. Traditionally, this is the methodology used when trying to optimize cost. It is the repetition of a design process by calculating [different material applications] again and again, each time improving the accuracy of the result by some amount,” he says. “Or they use interaction. This is sometimes referred to as play. By interacting with a material, by touching it or playing with a prototype or a model, they can learn things that they may not have logically deduced otherwise.”

 

NBBJ Architects sought an alternative cladding system for a 172-unit residential complex in Seattle. The hardboard panels making up the rain screen are made of layers of paper and a low-VOC phenolic binder, manufactured by Rainier Richlite (above). The isometric (below) shows how the panels (brown colored) were lapped rather than butt-jointed. The aluminum sunshades are off-the-shelf proucts. The details (opposite, bottom two) show an airspace for water vapor.

Once armed with real data and keen observations, Kaplan and Schacht assembled a panel of volunteer professional designers and engineers that now meets four times a year to establish criteria for choosing materials, which they then use to evaluate and make selections. Kaplan and Schacht share the information they gather with clients and industry experts; they scour trade shows, trade journals, and press releases, and develop relationships with manufacturers, in an effort to keep news of innovation flowing in multiple directions.