Red metal used on the solar thermal research house on campus

Artists: Sheryl Boyle and Mark MacGuigan

This tile features red-painted sheet metal mounted on plywood. The metal was recycled from innovative modular rain-screen panels designed by Associate Professor Sheryl Boyle for the CHEeR Solar Thermal House on the Carleton University campus. The thermal house project involved technical research into solar thermal heating systems and investigating design, fabrication, assembly, and disassembly questions.

The rainscreen panels were composed of a red metal back with cedar slats mounted on strapping. They were built using a jig for speed and efficiency, assembled on the ground, then mounted to a series of vertical Z-channels on the CHEeR house. Measuring two-feet-by-four-feet, the panels are easy install and remove, allowing researchers to open parts of the facade and install instrumentation or change aspects of the wall assembly. In addition, the leftover metal has been used in various metal projects in the school.

Completed in 2015, the CHEeR House was a collaborative research project between Carleton University’s faculty of engineering, the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism, and Urbandale Construction. It speaks to Carleton’s commitment to engaging in interdisciplinary research through full-scale design and built work. Boyle worked on the project with mechanical engineering professors Ian Beausoleil-Morrison and Cynthia Cruickshank.

Relevant links:

https://carleton.ca/bprc/people/cher-house/

https://carleton.ca/sbes/research-facilities/urbandale-centre-for-home-energy-research/