Barton Barr Central Library

Twenty-four 75-foot-long vertical shade panels consisting of a polyester/PVC shade cloth descend the north wall of the New Phoenix Central Library.
These panels are designed to block direct northeastern sunlight in the early mornings of the summer months.
The open-mesh, warped shade cloth created a brise-soleil shading effect on the north wall of the library, giving the building an elegant diaphanous facade created by the interplay of the fabric shading and glass curtain wall. The panels used custom-machined stainless-steel fittings and aluminum spars which tied back into the glass mullions of the Kawneer curtain wall. This was the first integrated fabric and glass curtain wall which has performed well for more than twenty years by shading the glass reading room from direct sunlight. The project recently received the AIA’s Twenty-Five Year Award.

