The Nest – a 47,000 square foot apartment building in Burlington, Vermont – marks the first new residential construction project in Burlington’s Downtown District in over 15 years. The new building helped achieve the city’s goal of providing high density and mixed income housing. As a new apartment project in Vermont’s largest city, The Nest had a high standard to meet. The developer for the project, Nedde Real Estate, asked for an iconic building that will be a downtown landmark and that utilizes green building practices during the construction process.
Optimo and KS Series insulated metal panels provide a sleek juxtaposition
gbA Architecture used brick, glass and insulated metal panels (IMPs) to achieve a modern design aesthetic while connecting the building with its surrounding urban environment and the natural world outside.
gbA Architecture & Planning was tasked with coming up with a modern design and an environmentally friendly place for residents to call home. The nine-story, 49-unit building is one of the tallest buildings in the city and includes studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Most of the apartments are located in the corners of the building to provide multiple views, spacious floorplans and 9-foot windows that supply natural light.
In addition to its modern design, The Nest was built for 21st century living with energy efficiency in mind. The building includes forward-thinking, thoughtful details including on-site EV charging stations, a solar array and a green roof. It was essential that The Nest was an environmentally friendly building from the start, including throughout the construction process. Because of this, building materials played a large role in helping to reduce the building’s carbon footprint.
The project initially called for ACM panels and fiber cement until budgeting became an issue. That’s when it became clear IMPs were the best choice – both on a financial level and more importantly, on a sustainability level.
The many climate-friendly features of IMPs can help construct residential projects, like The Nest, that could potentially have a lower total carbon footprint with less embodied carbon than concrete wall assemblies, depending on the brand specified.
A high-performance, energy-efficient building envelope solution, IMPs also have exceptional air and weather tightness that significantly reduces heat loss or heat gain, ensuring the comfort of building occupants.
Over 19,000 square feet of Kingspan’s IMPs were used to achieve green building practices – including Kingspan’s Optimo panels in Tricorn Black, KS Mini Micro-Rib panels in Pewter and KS Azteco panels in Weathered Zinc
Kingspan’s Optimo insulated metal wall panels deliver a flat, aesthetically appealing modern building envelope solution. The use of pearlescent micas or metallic colors can provide an even more dynamic finish to any project.
Kingspan’s KS Series panels provide unique aesthetics through a wide range of profiles while delivering supreme thermal performance. Adjustable module widths can integrate for distinct architectural flair while providing a clean, finished appearance.
Kingspan’s Optimo and KS Azteco panels on this project utilize the company’s QuadCore® Technology. QuadCore is Kingspan’s next generation of self-blended hybrid insulation core and is one of the most thermally efficient insulation cores on the market. This thermal efficiency helps maintain constant temperatures and reduce heating and cooling costs for The Nest.