The Arterra Project and Trespa Meteon® Beautiful in Green

Trespa International is a global leader in the development, production and delivery of high-performance, high-quality composite panels for exterior cladding, decorative facades and interior surfaces. Trespa employs two proprietary technologies to produce exceptionally durable products in four distinct product lines: Meteon^®, Athlon^®, TopLab^PLUS^®and Virtuon^®.

Meteon is rapidly becoming the panel of choice for rain screen cladding systems in a number of high profile projects in the United States and abroad. Meteon meets or exceeds key safety and environmental building standards, and provides architects, designers, installers and users with innovative, incredibly durable and aesthetically pleasing solutions that can meet virtually any set of specifications for almost any application.

Designed for Art and Earth Lovers
The 16 story, 286 unit Arterra development at 300 Berry Street in the new Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco was designed with an eye toward both beauty and environmental sustainability—combining vivid colors with a creative selection of materials that are healthy for the planet as well as attractive. Three sculpturally-designed buildings embrace an elegantly landscaped open courtyard—juxtaposing the warmth of recycled and sustainable materials with the elegance of expansive glass walls.

Arterra was created with numerous resource-efficient systems in addition to the extensive use of recycled and sustainable materials. A plant-covered roof and Trespa Meteon exterior facade panels have been combined with other environmentally sound materials including glass, cork, bamboo, grasses, and plants.

Initially, LEED certification was not considered for the Arterra project—but as the design progressed it became clear that there would be enough environmentally friendly products involved to make it possible. "From an architectural point of view it made so much sense, because we were doing it already," said Sylvia Kwan of Kwan Henmi Architecture/Planning, the design firm responsible for Arterra. Throughout their 26 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, Kwan Henmi has contributed to the design of high-profile projects such as The Watermark luxury high-rise condominiums, The Paramount Moscone West Convention Center, AT&T Ballpark, and Oakville Grocery Gourmet Foods.

Arterra is now registered under LEED NC 2.2 (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, New Construction 2.2), and will become the first LEED certified green high-rise community in San Francisco—both remarkable and rewarding for all involved.

Arterra and Trespa Meteon
Over 82,000 square feet of Trespa Meteon was used as exterior cladding on the Arterra project. Meteon's contributions to the project included extreme durability, ease of maintenance and unparalleled design flexibility provided by a stunning range of colorfast colors, textures and surface treatments. "What's so awesome about Trespa is that all of the vivid colors allow for such versatility", said architect Faraaz Mizra of Kwan Henmi.

"The really bright white is great. Most products aren't that pristine", he added.

Meteon excels as a rain screen cladding system. The open joint system equalizes pressure between the cladding and the load bearing wall, minimizing the amount of water penetration, and ventilation allows moisture to drain out of wall construction. This "breathing" offers possibilities for high insulation values and contributes to healthy indoor climates. Meteon is also ideal for fascias, storefronts, and balconies.

Environmental considerations have played a significant role in the development and manufacture of Trespa Meteon. The panels are homogeneously reinforced with a maximum 70% softwood or cellulose fiber and 30% thermosetting resin. The wood fiber comes from fast growing pine wood from European production forests and overall some 85% of the used raw materials are sustainable. Plus, up to 10% of residual materials from production are recycled to produce new Trespa construction panels which contain 15% pre-consumer recycled material and no urea-formaldehyde. Additionally, when the time comes to remodel or rebuild, Trespa panels can be easily removed and recycled.

Trespa International manufactures over 48 million square feet of panels per year at manufacturing and finishing facilities in Europe and Asia. Their main manufacturing facility was one of the first producers of panel material to be awarded ISO 14001 certification. Trespa's main headquarters is located in the Netherlands, with North American headquarters located in Poway, California.

Visit Trespa's website at www.trespa.com or call (800) 487-3772 for more information.