Powder and Starline 'Kinect' for inverted pyramid design

Posted by on 6 December 2019

41 floors.
An inverted pyramid
Every floor a different size.
LEED accreditation.
And a rooftop pool thrown in for good measure

Seattle’s Kinects Tower certainly boasts some impressive stats, and it delivered some “firsts” for the city while winning several awards in the process (NAIOP High Rise Residential of the Year Award, Excellence in Concrete Construction and more).

The name, Kinects Tower, came from Bumgardner architects’ desire to connect nearby neighborhoods in a unique way. The design of the building takes inspiration from both the area’s beautiful mountains and fire lookout towers, while noting that it is still very much a part of an urban neighborhood. The inverted pyramid shape adds interest to the building as well as ensuring fabulous views the further up you go, and a wide range of floor plans and unique interior spaces – no two units are the same!

A big part of the tower – certainly the most obvious from the outside, is the powder coated window wall & curtain wall. The project “kinnected” engineering and construction challenges with window wall solutions giving this award-winning tower a unique personality.

There certainly were challenges. From accommodating the weight of the pool structure without reshoring, flying forklifts into position on the 39^th floor, and installing windows at an angle from the podium to the highest floor on three sides so that the top of the glazing is further out than the bottom, the project was carefully managed to keep control of these unique requirements.

Talking of the windows, the inverted pyramid is enclosed in a window wall system from Starline Windows, which was a first for the city. The Starline 9000 Series Double Glazed Window Wall system and 9502 Series outswing balcony doors have been utilized time and time again and represent creative flexibility and guaranteed quality for design professionals.

“This was an exciting project for us,” explains Mike Harrison, Architectural Representative at Starline Windows. “The unique challenges of the building saw our signature window wall system complimented by our in-house designed curtain wall, as a perfect fit. The design team appreciated the selection of vision and spandrel glass along with our aluminum panels and slab-edge bypass. Ensuring a beautiful finish and world class protection to the aluminum components was incredibly important, so the powder coated finish was the icing on the cake.”

The performance powder coating used on Kinects Tower protects against cold winters, humid summers, and the salty, corrosive atmosphere created by the beautiful Puget Sound. And it looks fantastic.

Kinects Tower proudly displays its LEED silver accreditation so it’s no surprise that sustainability was at the heart of this project.  Starline’s window wall system, painted in house with high performance powder coating, was the obvious choice to really enforce the project’s environmental footprint, not to mention being delivered from their factory less than 120 miles away from the site!

Sustainable design is also important at Starline, and of course the finish is a huge part of that. Harrison explains, “Whenever we talk to the architectural community, we know that sustainable design is always at the forefront of their thinking. As part of, and a supplier to, that architectural community, sustainability is at the heart of what we do.”

Powder coating is unmatched by any other finish in terms of sustainability performance without sacrificing coating performance. Applying powder coating does not require the use of solvents and thinners so negligible Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) are released into the environment. There is no toxic waste created either in application and powder is recognized and recommended by the EPA.

Harrison continues, “Starline's state-of-the-art equipment, barely 3 years old and newer, utilizes 'Chrome Free' pretreatment and all powder is reclaimed by the system during the coating process. When it comes to offering a durable finish that looks fantastic, is extremely scratch resistant and offers the same or better technical performance than competing liquid products and with an improved environmental footprint, performance powder coatings genuinely deliver. We’re proud of our products and our owner’s decision to start using powder 15 years ago, and naturally appreciate the design professionals who choose a sustainable coating path.”