Light, air, and shade

California’s Bakers­field College was founded in 1931, and it is one of the oldest colleges of the United States in which teaching has been conti­nuous. More than 20,000 students are being educated on the 62-hectar main campus in the northeast of Bakers­field.

The college had its 2,800-square-metre audi­to­rium refur­bished through a commu­nity bond programme.

IBI Group Archi­tec­ture Plan­ning was tasked with rede­sig­ning the entire site and turning it into a centre of performing arts. The work involved a rede­sign of the entrance, recep­tion, and study rooms, as well as the 450 theatre seats.

HAVER Archi­tec­tural Mesh was used for the shading.

From a design and func­tional point of view it soon became clear that the LARGO PLENUS 2027 stain­less steel mesh would be the best solu­tion for Bakers­field College. The HAVER archi­tec­tural mesh achieves the desired visual shiel­ding, offers effi­cient air circu­la­tion, and, with an open area of 25%, guaran­tees effec­tive sun protec­tion during perfor­mances at the amphi­theatre. Further­more, the wire mesh cons­truc­tion is made of durable, low-main­ten­ance stain­less steel that can easily be cleaned and main­tained.

The stain­less-steel mesh elements were produced espe­ci­ally for Bakers­field College. Each one of the twelve mesh panels features a fastening system consis­ting of a clam­ping edge, clevis screw, and a pres­sure spring, and each panel was laid via three to four deflec­tions, so that the mesh does not frame the stage verti­cally but with a slight curvature.