Mixed-use developments are gaining in popularity. Also referred to as live-work-play developments, mixed-use projects offer a blend of residential, commercial, retail and recreational spaces.
Demand for more urban living is one of the factors fueling the growth of these developments. According to a RentCafe analysis of Yardi Matrix data, the number of apartments located in live-work-play buildings quadrupled in a 10-year span, with 43,700 completed in 2021 compared to 10,000 in 2012.
Today, architects and designers of these live-work-play developments are selecting building materials using key criteria like thermal performance, design flexibility and ease of installation.
Insulated metal panels deliver on these criteria and more. The projects highlighted below demonstrate how mixed-use developments benefit from high-performing Kingspan insulated metal panels.
808 Memorial Drive, a mixed-use building situated on the bank of the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, consists of both residential and commercial units.
Architects selected Kingspan Designwall 2000, QuadCore Optimo and QuadCore KarrierPanel insulated metal panels to meet requirements for high thermal performance.
The panels offer excellent insulation properties, which helps to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat and cool the building. This, in turn, helps to reduce the building's carbon footprint and operating costs.
Gilbert Place at Virginia Tech
Gilbert Place building in downtown Blacksburg, Virginia, is a mixed-use project developed by the Virginia Tech Foundation, a non-profit that supports Virginia Tech University and its initiatives.
The project features four floors of office space leased to the university, with retail and restaurants on the ground floor and a rooftop restaurant.
Architects selected Kingspan KarrierPanel with QuadCore insulation core, a high-performing, cost-effective universal barrier wall alternative solution to traditional multi-component wall systems like rainscreen assemblies.
KarrierPanel used with KarrierRail, which facilitates the use of a wide range of facade options, made it easy for architects to design with a variety of cladding options such as brick or metal facades offering total design flexibility.
Using these panels, architects designed a building that blends a modern aesthetic with the aesthetic of other buildings in the neighborhood.
Ease of installation was another key reason architects turned to Kingspan panels. These panels eliminated the need for scaffolding the entire building during construction and allowed the contractor to dry-in the building more quickly, which meant other trades could get to work on the building sooner.
These are just some of the mixed-use projects where Kingspan insulated metal panels deliver high thermal performance, design freedom and ease of installation.