{"id":6483,"date":"2020-06-02T13:05:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-02T13:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/?p=6483"},"modified":"2025-09-29T17:15:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T17:15:14","slug":"health-center-serves-as-glowing-neighborhood-beacon-with-color-shifting-alucobond-plus-cladding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/health-center-serves-as-glowing-neighborhood-beacon-with-color-shifting-alucobond-plus-cladding\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Center Serves as Glowing Neighborhood Beacon with Color-Shifting ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS Cladding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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With an angular futuristic design and dynamic color-shifting metal cladding that melds red with orange and yellow, the new Esperanza Brighton Park health center serves as a glowing beacon, welcoming residents seeking healthcare and wellness services in this previously underserved southwest Chicago neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Highlights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u2022 Esperanza Brighton Park was designed as a wellness oasis for a very large underserved population<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The Esperanza health center design not only includes outdoor walking paths, a garden and a playground but brings the outdoors inside through natural lighting incorporated through recessed windows that span the length of the building and which are set within ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS color-shifting Cupral cladding fabricated in parallelogram shapes <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Project Name:<\/strong> Esperanza Brighton Park Health Center

Location: <\/strong>Chicago, IL

ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS:<\/strong> Cupral, Platinum Mica

Architect:<\/strong> JGMA

Fabricator: <\/strong> East Coast Metal Systems, Inc.

Installer: <\/strong> Tuschall Engineering Co., Inc

General Contractor: <\/strong>Skender Construction, LLC\/ McNitt Consulting, LLC

Photography <\/strong>\u00a9 Joe Crimmings<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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 \u201cEsperanza Brighton Park was designed as a wellness oasis for a very large underserved population,\u201d said Juan Gabriel Moreno, AIA, president and founder of JGMA. \u201cThere had not been a lot of investment in this community, so we wanted to make an impact with this design. I\u2019m a proponent of leaving a lasting legacy and in providing dignity in architecture that these communities deserve. Buildings shouldn\u2019t be quiet and sit humbly. This building serves as a brand for Esperanza Health Centers. It is a recognizable destination.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Esperanza Brighton Park is clad in a total of 10,885 square feet of 4mm ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS, including 9,610 square feet of Cupral from the color-shifting Spectra Collection<\/a> and 1,275 square feet of Platinum Mica from the Classic Collection.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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(As the original \u201caluminum composite material,\u201d ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS has been developed exclusively to allow architects and designers to meet the fire performance requirements of today\u2019s building standards while using ACM as the material of choice. Consisting of two sheets of smooth .020\u201d aluminum thermo-bonded to a solid, fire retardant core, ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS offers the proven product properties such as flatness, form-ability, durability and ease of fabrication. ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS is manufactured in a standard 4mm thickness.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Design<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The selection of ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS in Cupral from the Spectra Collection \u2013 which shifts in color from a subtle red to vibrant orange and golden yellow as different wavelengths of light are reflected back to the audience, depending upon viewing angle \u2013 was an obvious choice for Esperanza Brighton Park, according to Moreno, who said Esperanza Health Centers incorporates these colors in its logo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(ALUCOBOND PLUS Spectra colors are transitional finishes which celebrate the natural color shifts that occur in materials that affect everyday life; the subtle nuances and color contrasts found readily in nature, the glowing luster and sheen in modern metals and the color shifts found in today’s luxury goods.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve reinforced the Esperanza brand identity with this cladding,\u201d said Moreno. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to put a big neon sign on this building to know that it\u2019s Esperanza.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Esperanza \u2013 meaning hope in Spanish \u2013 was founded to provide services to community residents regardless of immigration status, race\/ethnicity, income or insurance. JGMA included neighborhood stakeholders in design meetings for Esperanza Brighton Park, which not only includes rooms for medical exams and testing but spaces for exercise classes and meetings as well as a kitchen for community cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe wanted this design to feel like a community building not just a healthcare center,\u201d said Moreno. \u201cThe neighborhood lacks parks and open space. We wanted to incorporate the outdoors as a part of wellness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Esperanza health center design not only includes outdoor walking paths, a garden and a playground but brings the outdoors inside through natural lighting incorporated through recessed windows that span the length of the building and which are set within ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS color-shifting Cupral cladding fabricated in parallelogram shapes. A \u201cpicture window\u201d \u2013 which spans the east-facing second floor and is surrounded by a uniquely angled architectural frame element clad in ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS in Platinum Mica \u2013 offers views of the Brighton Park neighborhood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fabrication and Installation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Approximately 1,100 ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS panels were fabricated by East Coast Metal Systems, Inc.<\/a>, of Triadelphia, W.Va. Tuschall Engineering Co., Inc.<\/a>, of Burr Ridge, Ill., which provided pre-construction consultation services, installed the ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS with an EC-200 Pressure Equalized Rain Screen system by East Coast Metal Systems. Chicago-based Skender Construction<\/a>, LLC, served as general contractor on the project, collaborating with JGMA and McNitt Consulting, LLC<\/a>, of Homewood, Ill.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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The building\u2019s angular design elements \u2013 including the east end\u2019s \u201cpicture window\u201d frame that features a 60-degree radius \u2013 required meticulous fabrication and installation of the ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS panels, according to Tony Lemmon, project manager, East Coast Metal Systems, who described this elevation\u2019s unique shape as \u201can inverted triangle that looks like a set of wings.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The deeply recessed windows that span the length of the building required that the parallelogram-shaped ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS panels in Cupral be uniquely fabricated, said Lemmon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe unique design of the windows being set inward from the face of the ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS panels made fabrication challenging,\u201d according to Lemmon, who said East Coast Metal Systems spent approximately four months fabricating the panels. \u201cMost of the Cupral panels around the windows have both vertical and horizontal returns to the window. These panel shapes cannot be fabricated out of a single sheet of ALUCOBOND, so we utilized two sheets of ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS and chemically welded the returns to the face of the panels. This complex fabrication process allowed us to achieve the design.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tuschall Engineering Co., which had consulted with JGMA for 1.5 years prior to building construction, spent approximately six months installing the ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS panels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe had to carefully coordinate the panels with the window system because the ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS was fabricated before the windows were installed,\u201d said Brendan Nolan, project manager, Tuschall Engineering Co. \u201cAligning all of the joints required careful coordination with the other contractors. East Coast Metal Systems made the installation easier with the drawings. The angles on this project are really unique. This was the first time that we had installed parallelogram panels in a grid pattern. We got it right by coordinating with the other contractors and carefully following the drawings.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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East Coast Metal Systems recommended ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS in Cupral from the color-shifting Spectra Collection to meet the architect\u2019s desire for \u201csomething different\u201d in cladding, according to Tuschall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI have used ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS on numerous projects through the years; it worked great on this application,\u201d said Lemmon. Moreno was familiar with the color-shifting ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS Spectra Collection from a previous design project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI love when buildings don\u2019t feel static,\u201d said Moreno. \u201cEsperanza Brighton Park was intentionally designed to grab attention. We want to provide great design to communities that too often are forgotten. This building registers in people\u2019s minds. It makes them think there are great works going on in the community. Executives at Esperanza Health Centers immediately loved this design and the color-shifting cladding. \u2026 As an architect, I feel good about selecting ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS in Spectra because it has special attributes. It\u2019s also not a product that will produce buyer\u2019s remorse. It offers low maintenance and high performance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The Esperanza Brighton Park health center recently was featured by Crain\u2019s Chicago Business<\/em> as one of five new buildings that \u201cenhanced the look and character of the neighborhoods around them\u201d in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With an angular futuristic design and dynamic color-shifting metal cladding that melds red with orange and yellow, the new Esperanza Brighton Park health center serves as a glowing beacon, welcoming residents seeking healthcare and wellness services in this previously underserved southwest Chicago neighborhood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[28,450,169,103,84,225],"class_list":["post-6483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-case-studies","tag-architecture","tag-color-shifting","tag-exterior-design","tag-healthcare","tag-spectra","tag-spectra-cupral"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6483"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8743,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6483\/revisions\/8743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}