By Healthcare Facilities Today

LAKE FOREST, IL – No one doubts the critical role that the sun and Vitamin D play

in healing. But, the patients and community members at the Virtua Health and Wellness Center of Washington

Township, New Jersey, know it first hand.

“The cancer patients that come in here for chemo will sometimes just sit in the lobby and bathe in the

light that comes through the daylight wall. It makes everyone feel better,” said Terry Rodgers, building manager,

Virtua Health and Wellness Center. “The wall light is very conductive to relaxation. It’s both physiologic and

psychologic.”

With imaging and lab services, a cardiac rehab and ambulatory surgery facilities, doctors’ offices, healthy

food options and an exercise club with a pool, the 250,000-sq.-ft. Center aims to be Washington Township’s one

stop shop for health and wellness.

Before specifying 6,700-sq.-ft. of CPI Daylighting’s UniQuad® for the facility’s front entrance and large

scale, pool side façade, designer Paul Wildars of HGA Architects, Milwaukee, WI, did “a ton of research” to find

the right daylighting system. Wildars chose CPI’s UniQuad panels in Clear over Clear Matte to achieve what

Virtua was looking for – high quality diffused light without glare and visibility from the outside.

“The UniQuad lets in a ton of natural light, and didn’t have some of the thermal performance issues we

would have had with any other material,” said Wildars. “It fit the bill from a number of different perspectives,

from getting the light in but maintaining the privacy the client wanted and also a high performing glazing system

in a harsh, humid environment.”

Constructed of two independent translucent insulated panels, joined by a mechanically interlocking

structural connection that eliminates the need for vulnerable wet seal and adhesives, the UniQuad is the only

daylight system that can span as long as 12 ft. between purlins or structural supports. Providing indefinite building

envelope protection with its advanced Removable Skin Technology (RST) that allows the exterior panel to be

replaced as needed, UniQuad is available with up to .22 U-value and 50% light transmission - the best light to

insulation ratio in the industry. Scalable, the UniQuad can be configured with additional insulation, Class A firerated

assembly, sound reduction, dynamic shading, additional structural performance and military forced entry

resistance.!

The UniQuad system allows for the creation of daylighting zones mixed with transparency zones, as can

be seen on Virtua’s 25-ft.-long poolside façade where CPI incorporated vision glass along with the UniQuad

panels (shown in picture above). Together, the two zones create a level of transparency that is controlled where

desired, while satisfying a LEED requirement as well.

“Comparing it to curtainwall and other materials, we found that with CPI we were able to get a much

more dynamic material at a smaller cost,” said Wildars. “It gave us the best of both worlds and was very well

received.”