Architect LEO A DALY designed the building facade at the Omaha VA Ambulatory Care Center to honor the veterans it serves. The exterior features a striking glass element that resembles the military ribbons worn by American service members on their dress uniforms.
“Everything about this project is a love letter to America’s veterans. We are honored to be a part of it,” said John Andrews, AIA, vice president and healthcare practice leader for LEO A DALY in Omaha.
The Ribbon Bar Facade
On the western façade of the building, there are four rows of colored glass panes in red, plum, purple, light aqua, dark aqua, blue, Kelly green, dark green, yellow, harvest gold, and orange. These colors were selected to mirror the colors in the military ribbons. Another important feature of the design was ensuring the windows were all the same height but varied in width and color.
To create this look, architects used a combination of Viracon clear vision glass that sandwiched colored film from Vanceva.
According to Vanceva, Vanceva PVB interlayers in a dozen different colors were used to produce the desired shades and natural light transmission. “To test how natural light filtered throughout the day and affected interior spaces, the architects taped color samples to their office windows in multiple combinations. They evaluated single interlayer colors along with combinations of interlayers to create colors not available in the single-layer samples. Matching them in random combinations was key to achieving the interesting rhythm that supported the design concept.”
This colored façade delivers a vibrant experience to those walking down the west corridor as well. The sunlight pushes the interlayer colors onto the stairway, walls, and floors, creating visual interest that shifts throughout the day.
“We specified colors used in the ribbon bars after touring installations of this product to experience the true colors rendered by daylighting. Most members of the project team—not just designers—took part in these tours to ensure all aspects of their selection and installation were understood,” says Jon Fliege, AIA, NCARB, Director of Design, LEO A DALY.
For specific product details, the glass used to create this stunning multicolored facade was 6-mm clear HS VE-2M #2 for the interior and exterior panes with 13.2-mm VTS Black Finish-Argon, 90% fill-black silicone, and 6-mm Clear HS with four layers of 0.015 Vanceva PVB interlayers.
