Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/493534
A PR IL 2015 | 23 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY WALTERS GROUP INC. Structural Steel specialists realize the architect's design. "It's about building a language that allows architects and fabricators to communicate together, to try and wrap standards and specific attributes so that both are on the same page. There used to be this idea that all exposed steel should be perfect – but that is absurd," says Walter Koppelaar, president of Walters Group Inc. He draws an example from the art world, pointing to Rembrandt, who deployed, on occasion, considerable granularity to some aspects of a subject, while using what might be termed as a broad brush-stroke approach to others. "The guide enables the architect to designate, for example, the kind of finish wanted. Form, fit and fin- ish are the three main attributes. The guide enables the architect to express these attributes precisely," says Koppelaar, who has served on the board of CISC, helped steer development of AESS specifications and chaired the committee that formal- ized the AESS guide. "The key," he says, "is to find a way to efficiently provide what the owner is paying for." Mark Visentin, manager at Quest Steel Inc., reflects the key concern addressed in the AESS guide. "Some designers are doing less and putting design work on the fabricator. It's easy to cut or copy and paste on a computer, but there's sometimes less fine detail, so we wind up supplying more of the design aspect. I tell my detailer, set aside the mouse and use a pencil," he says. Visentin believes BIM software can also help address the issue of design intent and specifics. Another recent project from CISC is a 2014 life-cycle analysis (LCA) of a 12-sto- rey condo tower that compared steel with concrete. "It provided a detailed report. Along with environmental criteria like GWP (global warming potential), it included the impact on health of the material in relation to occupant health via its life cycle," says Tareq Ali, director of marketing communications and membership services at CISC. The opportunities opened up by today's technology and more economical fabri- cation extend beyond the wider range of structural steel shapes and designs. "Some new products are providing a functional solution," says Michael Gray, VP and co- founder of Cast Connex, a company that specializes in pre-engineered connectors and other cast steel structural components for buildings and bridges. One of the company's products is a proprietary Universal Pin Connector that is both practical and in tune with the trend to exposed steel. It is a clevis-type stan- dardized fitting designed to connect hollow structural section elements in AESS applications. "The connectors have been carefully sculpted to provide smooth transitional geometry that is otherwise unachievable using standard fabrication processes," states the Cast Connex website. The connector pins were used on a recent recreation centre project at the University of Alberta (U of A). "All the diagonal steel elements use our Universal Pin Connector. It can be welded to the end of a hollow section. Over 1,000 were used," says Gray. Although designed for AESS applications, the U of A's new Physical Activity and Wellness Centre was the first project to use the connectors in non-exposed loca- tions. Only about 20 per cent of the connectors used are visible. The company has said that the pins' competitive economics was a factor. The Scorpion Yielding Connector is another proprietary product and one that Gray worked to develop while studying for a PhD in structural engineering at the University of Toronto. The modular seismic energy absorbers provide earthquake- resistant support and are being deployed as part of a bracing system at the Audain Art Museum in Whistler. "The connector is designed to dissipate seismic energy of an earthquake like a crumple zone on a car. The market is new structural steel build- ings, but can be used to retrofit and strengthen a concrete building," Gray says. A Brookfield Place Entry Pavilion, New York. www.waltersgroupinc.com New Canadian War Museum vivaNEXT canopies Abilities Centre Guelph University Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel (AESS) A beautiful combination of form and function.