UO Tykeson Hall: Daffodils and Terra Cotta
Daffodils herald the Spring on the west lawn and roof terrace of Tykeson Hall at the University of Oregon. During sunset, the building’s multicolored terra cotta cladding glows. While many applications of terracotta are ornamental on campus, the terra cotta on Tykeson Hall is a high-performing rainscreen.
Installing the open-joint terra cotta rainscreen required strategic planning and rigorous detailing. Because of their long lead time, the terra cotta custom tiles, manufactured by Shildan Group in Europe, needed to be precisely integrated with brick and glass, the building’s other materials. The “off the shelf” application of the vertical terra cotta tiles, i.e. using the full width of each tile without cutting or trimming, required custom mullion gaps for window and door transitions. Each tile was individually numbered for color and length to avoid overlapping colors. Streimer installed the terra cotta tiles using hydraulic lifts.
For more on the terra cotta at UO Tykeson Hall, see Architectural Terra Cotta: Design Concepts, Techniques and Applications, co-written by UO Professor Donald B. Corner and Senior Principal John Rowell.
Prime Architect: Rowell Brokaw
Design Architect: OFFICE 52
Interior Design: RMA Studio
Landscape: PLACE Studio
Civil: KPFF
Structural: Hohbach-Lewin
MEP: Systems West
Builder: Fortis Construction