Vitro Architectural Glass Case Study: University of Oklahoma

This sentiment comes across loud and clear at the University of Oklahoma’s College of Medicine, M. Dewayne Andrews Academic Office Tower, where a bold crimson ribbon sweeping across a gleaming glass atrium featuring two high-performance Vitro Architectural Glass products greets visitors.

One of many focal points of the facility, which opened in 2016, the 60-by-150-foot curved ribbon—adorned in the university’s iconic color—sends an unmistakable message.

“We wanted to leave no doubt that this is the ‘Home of OU Medicine,’” said Mathew Siebert, partner, Bockus Payne Architecture, which designed the 174,000-square-foot building on the university’s Oklahoma City campus.

A welcoming look

With an overarching objective to elevate the college’s mission of leading healthcare in education, research and patient care, while enhancing the quality education of future physicians, Bockus Payne created a distinctive yet welcoming design.

This is seen in the all-glass façade of the nine-story office tower, which was clad in Solarban® R100 solar control low-e glass on Solargray® medium-gray-tinted glass by Vitro Glass. The exterior reflectance and color neutrality of the configuration provided the clean, crisp exterior aesthetic that Bockus Payne originally envisioned.

The products’ excellent solar heat gain capabilities and visible light transmittance values gave the architects the flexibility to design interior spaces that allow daylight to penetrate through the perimeter offices and into the core and center office areas, reducing the need for artificial lighting and minimizing glare.

This combination also was used to glaze two elevated pedestrian skywalks that connect the building to the adjacent OU Medical Center and Children’s Hospital.

To complement the glass and further convey a warm, hospitable feeling, Bockus Payne designed a landscaped vehicular and pedestrian plaza that creates a sense of arrival leading up to the entrance and atrium.