GKD Mediamesh® is a woven stainless steel fabric with integrated LEDs that is used to create a transparent digital display. This unique product is the perfect solution when a digital display is needed on a façade, yet the view through windows needs to be maintained or air flow is required. Mediamesh® evolved from an architectural mesh product woven by GKD. GKD is a German-based Company who began as a weaver of industrial wire cloth in the 1920’s. These products were used in all types of industrial applications from filtration to aggregate screening to conveying. In the early 1990’s, architects began to look at these metal products and think about their potential uses in architecture. This is how architectural mesh was born.

As beautiful as architectural mesh is, customers still wanted more. They wanted to be able to have images, text, and video on these facades. Ag4 Mediatecture Company in Germany understood this and came up with the idea of a transparent media façade. After working on a couple of projects in the early 2000’s, Ag4 approached GKD about weaving LEDs into metal fabric. GKD came up with a way to do this, and the product became Mediamesh®.

One such example is the Hamad International Airport (HIA) in the capital city Doha, which was opened for passengers after a decade of pioneering design, engineering and construction work. Once all work has been completed, up to 50 million passengers and 2.5 million metric tons of freight will be processed here every year. The strategically important location between east and west makes it an important international hub.

The sophisticated concept of HOK architects (Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum) from San Francisco is underlined in the main hall and in hall C of the main terminal by four large-scale Mediamesh® screens made of stainless steel fabric with integrated LED profiles, which were developed and produced by GKD.

Alongside luxury shopping and culinary delights of all kinds, are two large Mediamesh® screens each measuring over 2,831 square feet.

The visual lightness of the large-scale screens and the brilliant colors of the displayed media were central arguments for the planners in selecting this solution. Manufactured from Tigris stainless steel fabric with integrated LED profiles, they impress with their intricate transparency, high-quality appearance and invisible cabling. Each made up of six seamlessly joined fabric panels; the transparent displays flank the main hall, high over the heads of the airport visitors. The woven construction offers users of the First Class Lounge behind it an unhindered view of the airport hall and on the other side a clear view from the rooms of the terminal hotel. With six bright LEDs per pixel, the screens guarantee brilliant image quality across their entire length of 73.5 feet and height of 38.7 feet, even when the hall is flooded by daylight. This makes the shimmering metallic fabric a fascinating advertising platform for luxury goods from all over the world. 

As a full-service provider of transparent media systems, GKD also took over responsibility for the mounting of the screens. A particular challenge for the specialists from Düren was fixing the substructure to the specified attachment points on the glass façade behind it. In order to maintain the intricate overall feel of the Mediamesh® screens, the fabric panels were fixed to the frame structure using patented Fusiomesh NG fastening technology. 

However, the outstanding design and excellent function were not the sole focus for the planners from HOK: environmental friendliness was also a key factor when selecting all materials and solutions employed in order to keep the ecological footprint of the overall system as small as possible. With significantly lower power consumption than conventional displays, the Mediamesh® screens make a significant contribution to this. Alongside energy efficiency, the low-maintenance system is also sustainable with regard to the material used, as the stainless steel fabric is fully recyclable at the end of its service life.

Another application, the Cleveland Institute of Art, founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, is now one of America's leading art and design academies. In a complex expansion project spanning two years, the George Gund building was adjoined to the Joseph McCullough Center for the Visual Arts and now forms a single entity. A large Mediamesh® screen on the façade of the new building grabs the attention of art enthusiasts and passers-by, even from great distances.

The university, working closely with the architects at Stantec, sought a contemporary form of digital media to display graphics, photos and video sequences created by students. The Mediamesh® transparent media façade provided unhindered views of the outside surroundings from the building's interior. Moreover, it allows daylight to enter the university, thus sustainably making the building a pleasant environment for students and teaching staff alike.

One of the biggest challenges of the project was installing the Mediamesh® display while school was in session. Coincidently it was finals week for students so GKD’s installation team worked around their testing schedule. Additionally challenging was the project’s site, located on an active roadway just next to the installation created limited site access and a small working area. GKD was able to install the material without damaging the product or disrupting the students.

According to Mike Leonard, GKD’s Technical Director for Mediamesh®, “The material was shipped on site as needed, so no site storage was required, this was essential when working within a limited access site. We also worked off hours to avoid student-testing times. Our goal was to install the material with minimal disruption to the students and faculty.” Mike Leonard is responsible for the oversight of every domestic GKD Mediamesh® project from designing, fabrication and installation. In addition to the Mediamesh® display, GKD manufactured and installed the steel framework that supported the fabric as well as the electrical wiring.

One of the most interesting elements of the display was the engineering challenge faced when installing the display on a movable building. The building was originally a Ford assembly plant until purchased by the Institute in 1981. The building features movable floor slabs that once allowed the Ford model T’s to be accessed to the train tracks behind the structure. With the building’s movable features, the display is supported by top anchors and let the building retain its original/signature style. The engineers overcame the challenge by creating dead load anchors to the top of the building, which hold the weight of the display.

Leonard further states GKD was chosen, “…due to the transparent nature of Mediamesh® since it was going to be used over glazing. As the building evolved, a large portion of the glazing was removed, but CIA loved the artistic qualities of Mediamesh® and felt it was perfect for the application. The majority of the content that will be displayed will be related directly to CIA events and the artwork of CIA students and alumni.“

Known today as the Mellon Independence Center Building, Philadelphia residents know this historic building as the Lit Brothers Department Store, which occupied the building for nearly a century. This beautiful building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and currently houses the regional headquarters for the Mellon Bank with retail space on the ground level.

An iconic element has existed for years on the building rooftop- stationary transparent signage that spoke to the surrounding area. In an effort to retain the significant icon, but to modernize it as part of the overall upgrading and restoration effects, Mediamesh® was selected to assume this important role. Primary building owner, Brickstone, was pleased with the decision to use a woven stainless steel fabric with integrated LEDs as a digital display. Brickstone knew that the display would appeal to both the City and the Philadelphia Historic Commission, who set strict city codes related to advertising on buildings.

In addition to GKD’s Mediamesh v4 h4.25, Tigris was also used for the rooftop installation. The 359 by 14 foot tall display was attached using GKD’s Woven In Bar method with Triangular Brackets on top and I Bolts on the bottom. The GKD materials were chosen for their transparency, open design, ease of control of system and their ability to great a high performance display visible from required viewing distances.

The combination of historic and modern architectural building materials is often controversial, as it is common for observers to want to keep the integrity of the original structure. While the Mediamesh® does serve as a great juxtaposition to the historic building, it showcases our movement as a society toward technological ingenuity.

Join GKD at Facades+ NYC April 21-22, 2016 for our presentation on Solar Management and Mediamesh®