In a stunning example of adaptive reuse, the Crystal City 6 building in Crystal City, Virginia houses modern residences in a once outdated office building. The building underwent a massive renovation in order to be repurposed for residential use. The building’s concept of “micro-units” is an idea set by WeWork Companies Inc., who specializes in shared work spaces.
The team at WeWork, in their first residential project, sought to create apartments with shared amenities. The collaborative and communicative units are meant to attract tech workers from Washington, D.C. In addition to its adaptive construction, the building further implores numerous LEED rated components into its design.
© Perkins Eastman
For example, according to an article in PCI Magazine, “The project’s sustainable features include low-flow toilets, energy-efficient lighting and appliances, bicycle parking, high-efficiency fan and pump motors, and coatings with low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Mid-Atlantic Coatings, in collaboration with Tnemec Company, were responsible for the building’s coatings system. Travis Gold, of Mid-Atlantic Coatings described, “In a city full of bare masonry and stone, a wild color scheme was chosen.”
© Tnemec Company, Inc.
Market Manager, Architectural Division of Tnemec Company, Jennifer Gleisberg, CDT, LEED Green Associate, describes that the team at Tnemec was able to color match the desired Pantone colorway from the designers and also provide “long-term color and gloss stability.”
The project features nearly 300 gallons of Tnemec’s Series 1071 Fluoronar product. This high-solids fluoropolymer finish was brush and roller applied. Gold further explained, “Fluoronar was the easy choice as the finish coat due to its ease of application, long life cycle, and its color and gloss retention. This was important due to the vibrancy of the chosen colors.”
The team’s premier Fluoronar coating system contains Lumiflon FEVE resin technology, which allows the coating to remain intact for an extended period of time, eliminating the need to recoat. The fluoropolymer protects the building from UV radiation and other environmental deterrents that contribute to coating degradation. Fluoronar, with Lumiflon FEVE resin’s hyper-durable nature, provides the Crystal City 6 building façade with a long-lasting, high performance coating system.
information courtesy of Tnemec Company and PCI Magazine
photography © Tnemec Company and Perkins Eastman– Architect on Record, see below each image
Categories Architecture