Architect Case Study: Gensler

Gensler recently collaborated with client AEG, builder Webcor and curtain wall subcontractor Enclos on the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences and JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE! in Los Angeles. BIM tools played a key part in the design and documentation of the curtain wall. The flexibility of BIM tools, and Gensler’s ability to customize them, enabled the façade design to quickly adapt to the continual refinements in floor-to-floor heights and changes in room configurations during the design process. Although different program spaces required different glazing strategies, it was important to Gensler that the transition between spaces occur seamlessly from the exterior.

Program and Performance Driven Response

Early in the design process, the team decided the traditional curtain wall approach in Autodesk Revit - infilling a curtain wall system with mullions along grids and individual panels - didn’t offer the flexibility and speed of feedback necessary to explore the range of design options desired. Additional instance, type and shared parameters were added to a standard Revit curtain wall panel (nearly tripling the number of parameters in a standard curtain wall panel) to allow an individual curtain wall panel to be broken down into an assembly of individually controlled components: “sub panels” with individual material control, mullions, and sunshades. The additional parameters allowed the design team to explore design implications by changing glass color and mullions spacing over the entire 500,000 SF curtain wall system quickly, while maintaining the ability to schedule glass quantities for California Energy Code Title 24 conformance.

Pattern Variation Study from the Model

Quantities of the various glass types were scheduled and provided to the mechanical engineer for energy calculations. Each glass type used had slightly different performance characteristics – Visual Light Transmission, Shading Coefficient, Shading Heat Gain Coefficient, etc. - and as a result the façade was able to be tuned to a higher level of precision than typically pursued. All of these values were taken into account to provide a façade that met both the program and performance criteria of the design.

Revit Model to Rendering

The model enabled the construction team to understand, inform and convey the design intent. Visualization and quantification, enabled by the model, significantly contributed to this effort. The total number of single story, unitized curtain wall panels necessary to achieve the design were scrutinized by the design team early in the process. The challenge was to retain the intent of variegation, while reducing the complexity and number of unique panels necessary to accomplish the pattern.

About Gensler
Gensler is a global design, planning, and strategic consulting firm, with more than 2,800 professionals networked across 33 offices on five continents. Consistently ranked by U.S. and international industry surveys as the leading architecture and interior design firm, Gensler leverages its deep resources and diverse expertise to develop design solutions for industries across the globe. Since 1965, Gensler has collaborated with clients to create environments that enhance organizational performance, achieve measurable business goals, enrich people and communities, and enhance everyday experiences. In Los Angeles, Gensler recently completed 2000 Avenue of the Stars, an 800,000-square foot building in Century City that is home to Creative Artists Agency. Current projects include The Port of Long Beach Administration Building and The Campus at Playa Vista in West Los Angeles.

For more information go to www.gensler.com

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