Developers in Honduras are working hard to create spaces that take advantage of the country’s convenient location and talented bilingual workforce to make it an outsourcing hotspot. One new project, the Altia Business Park, located in San Pedro Sula, is designed to give businesses more than an office park—with a university campus, medical center, hotel, exercise and sports facilities, and more. Developers planned the business park to provide a turnkey solution for businesses and their employees, pitching it as a way to let companies focus on their core business while being assured that the amenities they need are right outside their door.
For the developers, a key part of that amenity-rich environment is the Altara Center, the business park’s shopping, dining and entertainment center. Altara Center was designed to serve as a portal between the business park and visitors, which meant that its design was crucial, and its façade had to project an image that was all at once welcoming, high-tech, modern and unique.
Architect Gerardo Lopez was charged with designing the Altara Center, and in his search for a material for the façade, he came across ALPOLIC aluminum composite panels. The Prismatic line of these panels combines fluoroethylene vinyl ether (FEVE) technology with mica flake pigments in the paint, which gives the panels a sparkling, color-shifting effect, thanks to the light reflecting differently with every change in the viewing angle.
“When [Lopez] learned we could provide a finish that would be kind of like a chameleon—changing colors throughout the day as the sun changes position, as if the finish is alive—he fell in love with the idea,” said Octavio Diaz, international sales manager for ALPOLIC materials.
For Lopez, there was just one problem—the blue-purple tones he envisioned were not available. But ALPOLIC and Valspar teamed up to create the custom color the client was after. The team used a Pantone color as its jumping-off point, and worked through a series of samples with the client to ensure the final color was exactly as he had in mind.
Using Valspar’s Valflon coil coating not only allowed Lopez to get the perfect custom Prismatic Purple shade, it added brilliance and durability to the panels. Valflon coatings are durable FEVE fluoropolymer based resins, which creates a distinguished appearance without sacrificing on performance. They also provide excellent adhesion and flexibility properties as well as exceptional resistance to air-borne chemicals and protection against weathering, chalking and fading.
The final effect is one that is very different from the typical aluminum composite colors of silver, gray or white. In the daytime, the appearance of building shifts from light blue to deep purple depending on the time, weather and viewing angle. With the panels fastened to a concave wall, the viewing angles change significantly even for viewers standing in place. In addition to the Prismatic Purple coating, the building features multicolored LED lighting behind perforations in the cladding material, which gives it nighttime color-shifting abilities as well.
The completed Altara Center gives the business park the ideal gateway envisioned by its developers, who state that “San Pedro Sula is a vibrant city… and Altia Business Park is a world-class business and technology park with all the required energy, telecommunications, security and modern office space. All of these factors together provide a real cost-competitive advantage for a turnkey solution at a nearshore location.”
As the business park gains tenants and regular visitors, the dynamic façade of the Altara Center will continue to welcome them for many years to come.
Altara Shopping Mall, San Pedro Usula, Honduras http://www.altiabusinesspark.com/altia/altara.cfm
Contact Information:
General contractor: Grupo Karim’s
Architect: Arq. Gerado Lopez
Panel supplier: ALPOLIC Materials
Panels engineering, production, Installation: Windotec
Coatings provider: The Valspar Corporation; Minneapolis; http://www.valsparcoilextrusion.com/
Related Stories
| Apr 12, 2011
Retail complex enjoys prime Abu Dhabi location
The Galleria at Sowwah Square in Abu Dhabi will be built in a prime location within Sowwah Island that also includes a five-star Four Seasons Hotel, the healthcare facility Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and nearly two million sf of Class A office space.
| Mar 30, 2011
Big-box giants downsize, open smaller, urban stores
As U.S. chain retailers absorb the lessons of the Great Recession, many big-box chains have started to shrink average store footprints to reflect the growing importance of multi-channel shopping, adapt to urban settings, and recognize the need to optimize portfolios. Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, and the Gap, among others, all have small concepts in the works or are adapting existing ones. These smaller store formats should allow the retailers to maximize profitability and open more stores in closer proximity to each other.
| Mar 22, 2011
Mayor Bloomberg unveils plans for New York City’s largest new affordable housing complex since the ’70s
Plans for Hunter’s Point South, the largest new affordable housing complex to be built in New York City since the 1970s, include new residences for 5,000 families, with more than 900 in this first phase. A development team consisting of Phipps Houses, Related Companies, and Monadnock Construction has been selected to build the residential portion of the first phase of the Queens waterfront complex, which includes two mixed-use buildings comprising more than 900 housing units and roughly 20,000 square feet of new retail space.
| Feb 23, 2011
Unprecedented green building dispute could cost developer $122.3 Million
A massive 4.5 million-sf expansion of the Carousel Center shopping complex in Syracuse, N.Y., a project called Destiny USA, allegedly failed to incorporate green building components that developers had promised the federal government—including LEED certification. As a result, the project could lose its tax-exempt status, which reportedly saved developer The Pyramid Cos. $120 million, and the firm could be penalized $2.3 million by the IRS.
| Feb 11, 2011
Grocery store anchors shopping center in Miami arts/entertainment district
18Biscayne is a 57,200-sf urban retail center being developed in downtown Miami by commercial real estate firm Stiles. Construction on the three-story center is being fast-tracked for completion in early 2012. The project is anchored by a 49,200-sf Publix market with bakery, pharmacy, and café with outdoor seating. An additional 8,000 sf of retail space will front Biscayne Boulevard. The complex is in close proximity to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the downtown Miami entertainment district, and the Omni neighborhood, one of the city’s fast-growing residential areas.
| Feb 11, 2011
Apartment complex caters to University of Minnesota students
Twin Cities firm Elness Swenson Graham Architects designed the new Stadium Village Flats, in the University of Minnesota’s East Bank Campus, with students in mind. The $30 million, six-story residential/retail complex will include 120 furnished apartments with fitness rooms and lounges on each floor. More than 5,000 sf of first-floor retail space and two levels of below-ground parking will complete the complex. Opus AE Group Inc., based in Minneapolis, will provide structural engineering services.
| Feb 11, 2011
Green design, white snow at Egyptian desert retail complex
The Mall of Egypt will be a 135,000-sm retail and entertainment complex in Cairo’s modern 6th of October district. The two-story center is divided into three themed zones—The City, which is arranged as a series of streets lined with retail and public spaces; The Desert Valley, which contains upscale department stores, international retailers, and a central courtyard for music and other cultural events; and The Crystal, which will include leisure and entertainment venues, including a cinema and indoor snow park. RTKL is designing the massive complex to LEED Silver standards.
| Jan 25, 2011
AIA reports: Hotels, retail to lead U.S. construction recovery
U.S. nonresidential construction activity will decline this year but recover in 2012, led by hotel and retail sectors, according to a twice-yearly forecast by the American Institute of Architects. Overall nonresidential construction spending is expected to fall by 2% this year before rising by 5% in 2012, adjusted for inflation. The projected decline marks a deteriorating outlook compared to the prior survey in July 2010, when a 2011 recovery was expected.
| Jan 21, 2011
Harlem facility combines social services with retail, office space
Harlem is one of the first neighborhoods in New York City to combine retail with assisted living. The six-story, 50,000-sf building provides assisted living for residents with disabilities and a nonprofit group offering services to minority groups, plus retail and office space.
| Jan 19, 2011
Baltimore mixed-use development combines working, living, and shopping
The Shoppes at McHenry Row, a $117 million mixed-use complex developed by 28 Walker Associates for downtown Baltimore, will include 65,000 sf of office space, 250 apartments, and two parking garages. The 48,000 sf of main street retail space currently is 65% occupied, with space for small shops and a restaurant remaining.
