Los Angeles Police Department
Façade cladding with W.S. Tyler Architectural Mesh EGLA-MONO 4832
"A series of undulating metal mesh screens are intended to veil the building, while simultaneously providing security and allowing the structure to breathe." - John Friedman, Alice Kimm Architects
Gallery
Description
“Located on Main Street, just south of City Hall, this facility will provide parking, a mechanics garage, and a fueling station for the Los Angeles Police Department’s new headquarters. A series of undulating metal mesh screens are intended to veil the building, while simultaneously providing security and allowing the structure to breathe. To enliven the sidewalk, a freestanding structure at the building’s base will include a non-profit art gallery, or some other arts-related organization. Contributing to the transformation of this area as a home to the arts, this element will help form a link between Gallery Row, located near 5th and Main, and the planned Arts Park, adjacent to MOCA’s Temporary Contemporary.”
John Friedman, Alice Kimm Architects
To spice up the LAPD MTD+MSP Parking Garage, JFAK Architects opted to create a unique façade made from woven wire mesh. Additionally, the imaginary façade concept showed a leaf design and an undulating shape.
W.S. Tyler was first faced with these tasks by the architect in the summer of 2005. Almost exactly four years later, forty-nine architectural wire mesh panels for a total quantity of just under 1300 m² were installed.
To realize the undulating form of the façade, the wire mesh panels, which are made from EGLA-MONO 4832, are split into vertically and horizontally tensioned elements. Thirty-four vertical panels are up to 13500 mm long and 2440 mm wide. The horizontal canopy consists of twelve panels with a maximum length of 5750 mm in the same width.
Additionally, three straight panels were installed at the side of the parking garage. These elements are 13100 mm long and 1830 mm wide.
All panels are equipped with the W.S. Tyler standard mounting system. Pressure springs allow for perfect tensioning, while wire connectors are used to the secure the mesh at the intermediate mounting levels.
The painting is an overlay of larger and smaller leaves, some painted in two different green shades, some not. The architect decided to not paint the initally existing third ‘color’ to keep some of the sparkle and reflective quality of the stainless steel. The lacquering was the very last manufacturing step just prior to shipping the material from Germany to Los Angeles.