The new $110-million Life Sciences building at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles is designed with an array of state-of-the-art learning equipment inside. But when complete in two years, the three-story project will also dazzle with a unique and complex exterior.
"The greatest challenge on the LMU-Life Science Building is the design, coordination and construction of a very complex skin system," says Brian Rush, senior project manager with C.W. Driver, the Pasadena-based general contractor in charge of construction. "The skin is made up of SwissPearl [cement panels], metal panels, unitized glazing, stick-framed glazing, point-supported structural glass walls and a green roof system."