{"id":2053,"date":"2015-05-19T12:53:56","date_gmt":"2015-05-19T12:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/?p=2053"},"modified":"2025-09-05T14:30:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:30:16","slug":"retail-center-rebounds-with-new-alucobond-natural-cladding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/retail-center-rebounds-with-new-alucobond-natural-cladding\/","title":{"rendered":"Retail Center Rebounds With New ALUCOBOND NaturAL Cladding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lincoln<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Project Name:<\/th>\nLincoln Park Centre<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Project Location:<\/th>\nChicago, Illinois<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ALUCOBOND\u00ae Materials:<\/th>\nALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS NaturAL Brushed Stainless<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Architect:<\/th>\nWeiss Architects<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fabricator:<\/th>\nSobotec Ltd.<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Installer:<\/th>\nArchitectural Panel Systems, Inc.<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
General Contractor:<\/th>\nErnie Loberg Construction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Photography:<\/th>\nPaul Biasco and Architectural Panel Systems<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Lincoln Park Centre \u2013 a 61,000-square-foot retail shopping center located at the highly trafficked intersection of North and Clybourn avenues on Chicago\u2019s north side \u2013 has undergone the kind of major changes in just a few short years that have made it a real-estate investment company\u2019s dream venture. <\/p>\n

\"Lincoln<\/a><\/p>\n

When White Plains, N.Y.-based Acadia Realty Trust acquired the urban retail property in April 2012 for $31.5 million, Lincoln Park Centre was suffering from tenant losses, including the shuttering of the Borders Books and Music store that had occupied its 25,000-square-foot anchor space. In January 2015, Acadia announced its sale of Lincoln Park Centre to The Georgetown Co., LLC, of New York, for $64 million \u2013 more than double its purchase price.<\/p>\n

Key to that investment success was an approximate $5-million renovation, including an extensive redesign of the shopping center\u2019s light-hued brick-and-stone exterior fa\u00e7ade with a modern metal look that focused on creating a custom, contemporary image for new tenant Design Within Reach Studio.<\/p>\n

The home furnishings and decor merchandiser opened in July 2014 in Lincoln Park Centre, occupying the second story of the vacated Borders anchor space.<\/p>\n

The renovated fa\u00e7ade was clad in a combination of uniquely ribbed-and-curved aluminum composite material (ACM) wall panel sections, U-shaped ACM panels and rectangular zinc panels.<\/p>\n

This building\u2019s contemporary metal image included 9,652 square feet of 4mm ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS naturAL ACM in the Brushed Stainless finish. The ALUCOBOND\u00ae panels were fabricated by Sobotec Ltd., of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and installed by Architectural Panel Systems, Inc., of Naperville, Ill., utilizing Sobotec\u2019s SL-2000 Dry Joint Rainscreen System. Ernie Loberg Construction, of Rolling Meadows, Ill., served as general contractor for the project.<\/p>\n

\"Lincoln<\/a><\/p>\n

Steven Weiss, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, principal, Weiss Architects, LLC, of Chicago, was hired by Acadia Realty Trust to complete this renovation project, incorporating Design Within Reach store schematics by New York-based Sayigh + Duman architects.<\/p>\n

The Design Within Reach anchor space occupies a large curved building facing the intersection of North Avenue and Halsted Street. \u201cThis building features a big curve and faces into a street corner; it\u2019s very visible,\u201d said Weiss, who was the architect of the original Lincoln Park Centre development in 2004.<\/p>\n

(Weiss Architects provides architecture, urban design, planning and interior design services for a wide range of clients and project types, including a retail specialty.)<\/p>\n

Sayigh + Duman architects created an updated image for the Design Within Reach Studio that required removal of the building\u2019s third-story curved tower that had featured Borders corporate identity signage \u2013 bringing the building down to the level of the parapet all the way around.<\/p>\n

Completing this streamlined, contemporary update was uniquely ribbed-and-curved metal cladding.<\/p>\n

\"Lincoln<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe looked at corrugated steel in a ribbed material,\u201d said Weiss. \u201cBut you can\u2019t bend a formed material into this curve. \u2026 ALUCOBOND\u00ae is so workable. You can make curved panels. The ribs are fastened from behind so that this cladding looks like it\u2019s carved from a block of steel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we looked at corrugated steel panels, the costs were high and the material could not achieve the desired look,\u201d said Ross Boehmer, president, Architectural Panel Systems, whose company has completed several projects with Weiss Architects. \u201cAlucobond was by far a better option. The radius of this building is not uniform; it changes. All lines featuring the ALUCOBOND\u00ae had to perfectly line up with the louvers, and they do line up perfectly on this job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Architectural Panel Systems and Sobotec were brought in for consultation during the renovation project\u2019s design phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we learned that the architects wanted curved metal panels with ribbing, we provided solutions using Alucobond,\u201d said Vlad Sobot, president, Sobotec. \u201cWe knew we could create ribs with the ALUCOBOND\u00ae and install those ribs in panel sections in the shop. These were not just straight, flat panels; the majority of panels were curved.\u201d<\/p>\n

The unique radius of this building\u2019s profile was its \u201ckey feature,\u201d according to Sobot.<\/p>\n

\"Lincoln<\/a><\/p>\n

Sobotec fabricated approximately 1,400 ALUCOBOND\u00ae ribs \u2013 either curved or flat \u2013 that were shop-installed with concealed fasteners into 200 wall panel sections averaging 4-feet by 8-feet. Additionally, Sobotec fabricated 24 U-shaped 4-by-5 foot ALUCOBOND\u00ae panels for installation around first- and second-story windows on the retail center\u2019s anchor space.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese wall sections were easy to install in the field with hidden fasteners,\u201d said Sobot. \u201cWe\u2019ve completed many projects in this manner. By assembling these panel sections in the shop, labor costs are reduced because labor is much more expensive in the field. The controlled shop environment also allows us to match all of the ribs from one panel section to the next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weiss credits the cladding\u2019s exact fit to precision engineering by Sobotec.<\/p>\n

\u201cSobotec engineers are geniuses,\u201d said Weiss. \u201cThey really engineered this cladding incredibly precisely and were extremely detail-oriented. They got the reveals exactly where I wanted them, and there were no exposed fasteners. This building looks like a finely-crafted museum. Everything fit together incredibly well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lincoln Park Centre renovation project was one of the first to utilize the ALUCOBOND\u00ae naturAL in the new Brushed Stainless finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ALUCOBOND\u00ae brushed stainless finish is spectacular,\u201d said Weiss. \u201cIt looks like brushed steel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The successful sale of the shopping center \u2013 which now is home to new tenants Design Within Reach, Eddie Bauer and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams as well as legacy tenants Sur La Table and Carter\u2019s \u2013 may be the best endorsement for this renovation project\u2019s design.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were very happy with this project,\u201d said Sobot. \u201cThe fact that the retail center sold so well speaks to the quality and image that ALUCOBOND\u00ae can give a building when it is fabricated and installed correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n