Vancouver Community Library: Terracotta Siding
The Vancouver Community Library in Vancouver, Washington, offers its community an inviting place to learn, gather and relax. Designed by The Miller Hull Partnership, the modern civic building uses custom Argeton terracotta siding to complement the historic masonry architecture of its surrounding neighborhood.
The exterior is a ventilated terracotta rainscreen system, often referred to as terracotta siding. Its custom earth-tone panels give the library a warm, timeless appearance while supporting the performance requirements of a large public building.
A Modern Library Designed for Its Historic Setting
The former central library occupied an outdated building at a site separated from downtown Vancouver by the freeway. Relocating the library to the city’s urban core gave it a more accessible and prominent location within a planned four-block mixed-use development. At approximately 80,000 square feet, the new building more than tripled the space available at the former location while expanding the library’s role in the community through indoor and outdoor spaces designed for meetings, presentations and civic events.
Five floors of programming radiate around an active central atrium, encouraging visitors to move through the library’s collections, technology and public spaces. Places designed for lingering invite more casual and comfortable use of the building, culminating in a rooftop reading room and terrace with views of the adjacent public plaza, the city, the Columbia River and Mount Hood. The building needed an exterior material that could express its distinctly modern design while respecting the historic brick buildings nearby. Terracotta façade cladding provided the visual warmth, permanence and architectural flexibility needed to connect those two settings.
Custom Argeton Terracotta Rainscreen Panels
Telling Architectural Systems, the North American distributor of the Argeton terracotta rainscreen system installed on the project, worked closely with Miller Hull throughout the design of the exterior cladding system. Once the dimensions of the terracotta wall panels had been determined, color became the central design consideration. The team explored two custom coloring techniques available from Argeton, each capable of producing natural variation and depth across the building façade.
The first option was Argeton’s flashed color process, in which the appearance of the base color is altered during firing to create natural shading within each terracotta panel. This process produces subtle tonal variation while preserving the inherent character of fired clay. The second option was Argeton’s engobe process, a clay-based surface treatment that can create coordinated shades related to the original base color. Engobe gives architects greater control over the final color of the terracotta siding while maintaining the authentic texture and material quality of architectural terracotta.
Custom Earth-Tone Terracotta Siding
Miller Hull ultimately selected the engobe process to create two contrasting earth tones custom matched to the firm’s specifications. The two colors were installed randomly in a 60/40 blend, creating subtle mottling and a sense of natural variation across the exterior façade. Rather than producing a uniform pattern, the blend gives the terracotta siding a layered, timeless appearance that helps the modern civic structure feel at home among the historic brick buildings surrounding it.
The custom color process used at Vancouver Community Library demonstrates the broad range of design possibilities available with Argeton terracotta cladding. Panel dimensions, colors, profiles, surface treatments, glazes and engobes can be coordinated to respond to a project’s architectural concept and physical context. In this case, the ability to develop a custom color blend allowed the terracotta rainscreen to serve as both a high-performance exterior system and a defining part of the library’s architectural expression.
Terracotta Rainscreen Installation
After the construction documents were issued and the project entered the bid stage, Telling collaborated with Streimer Sheet Metal Works, the terracotta rainscreen installer. Telling met with Streimer’s technical personnel throughout the project to review installation details, system requirements and construction procedures. The company also provided pricing assistance and technical coordination, helping the architect’s design intent carry through to the successful installation of the custom terracotta façade.
Adin Dunning, Lead Architect, Miller Hull
“The details of the terracotta rainscreen were critical to us from a building performance standpoint, but the ability to dial in the color of the tiles was essential to fitting the building into its context. A distinctly modern building in a historic neighborhood, the materials we selected were critical to the architectural expression. And we could not be happier with the Argeton terracotta.”
Jeremy Bell, Project Manager, Streimer Sheet Metal Works, Inc.
“I have now managed the installation of three terracotta projects installed by Streimer Sheet Metal Works, Inc. The materials used were three styles of tile from two separate manufacturers. We found Telling to be uniquely qualified and met all of our expectations.
“The Vancouver Library is definitely a pinnacle of LEED design and a landmark for Streimer and the community in Vancouver. Streimer is a full-service architectural sheet metal contractor that has been in business in the Portland, Oregon area for over 60 years. We are excited to see where this new product will take us, our clientele and what future building designs will develop as a result.
“Streimer Sheet Metal is looking toward the future of sustainable construction while providing a fresh new look in the industry. We look forward to partnering with Telling and Argeton in the future.”
About Argeton Terracotta Cladding
The Argeton terracotta rainscreen system is an architectural exterior cladding system made from natural fired clay. Developed in Germany more than three decades ago, Argeton has been installed on thousands of projects worldwide. Its terracotta wall panels are available in a broad selection of colors, formats, profiles and surface finishes, giving architects the flexibility to create distinctive façades for civic, educational, commercial and residential buildings.
Although the material is frequently called terracotta siding, particularly by building owners and residential audiences, it differs from conventional siding products. Argeton panels are installed as part of an engineered ventilated rainscreen system, creating a durable exterior wall assembly with the refined color, texture and depth of architectural terracotta.
Telling Architectural Systems has distributed Argeton products for more than 20 years, providing architects, contractors and installers throughout North America with technical information, system design assistance, detailing guidance and installation support. While working with Miller Hull, Telling was able to provide answers and technical data in most cases within 24 hours, using the time difference to the project team’s advantage.
Explore Argeton terracotta siding and rainscreen panels or contact Telling Architectural Systems to discuss your next project.
