Stunning: black and white perforated panels that echo the rhythm of the glass façade, cast a bold, contemporary identity for the Illinois EPA’s new home, which was once a vacant Sears building. The glass panels match the perforated metal design. Everything on the project stands out, grabbing your attention.
See the Case Study from MCA Member: Accurate Perforating >
Design by 4240 Architecture
At the new 30-story McMaster Graduate Residence Tower in Hamilton, Ontario, Diamond Schmitt architects crafted 550 single-skin metal wall panels to create a dynamic aesthetic and revitalize the downtown core.
Inspired by the chevron floor plate façade design on the neighboring Hamilton City Hall, the angular, dimensional cladding begins at the podium level and extends vertically across all façades.
Winning a MCA 2025 Design Award in the Single-Skin Metal Wall Panel category, Judge Kevin Wagner, AIA, associate principal at Substance Architecture in Des Moines, remarked, “The folds of the metal, it’s really captivating—just thinking about what it took to fabricate because every piece is custom. It’s this totally unique, sculptural piece of art.”
“The closer you get, the more refined it gets,” observed Judge Rick Schneider, FAIA LEED, founder, ISTUDIO Architects, Washington, D.C. “There’s one gesture repeated at different scales in different materials.”
“Some of the paneling is perforated, so it’s even more intricate,” added Judge Dan Rodriguez, principal founder at Rodriguez Romero Design and Architecture in Los Angeles. “You almost couldn’t use any other cladding because of how intricate it was.”
To achieve the architect’s vision for the metal façade, PPG Duranar Sunstorm Aluminum Plate panels were selected. For fabricator Sobotec, the aluminum panels were an ideal material to create the varying geometric shapes comprising the modern, finned design. The fabricated panels can also be individually removed and repaired on a panel-by-panel basis, allowing any scrapes or dings to easily be fixed in the long term.
Duranar Sunstorm is a mica-effect, two-coat system which adds pearlescent mica flake to the color layer to create a metalescent look. The long-lasting, weather-resistant, aesthetic finish is achieved without aluminum flake or a third clear coat layer.
The angled panels, perforated metal and curtain wall — combined with an expansive public plaza — engage the surrounding community. A rooftop terrace with panoramic urban views, an integrated cycling path system and convenient access to public transit further enhance the student experience. Building amenities include a fitness center, outdoor rooftop running track, movie room, study spaces, music room, games room and a rooftop BBQ area.
The building is tracking LEED Gold and features a high-performance building envelope and operable windows for individualized comfort. The extensive green roof offset stormwater, reduces the heat island effect and supports biodiversity.
The high-rise houses 600 graduate students and their families and contributes to a vibrant, inclusive campus culture that enriches community life.
In sum, Wagner concluded, “The McMaster University tower is above and beyond. It deserves all the recognition.”
MCA has announced the 2025 MCA Design Award Winners!
See all the 1st and 2nd place winners >
Congratulations to the MCA Members: ATAS International, Inc., Sheet Metal Supply LTD, Norbec Architectural Inc., MillerClapperton, Nucor Insulated Panel Group, East Coast Metal Systems, Inc., PAC-CLAD | Petersen, Sobotec Ltd., PPG Industrial Coatings
Thank you to these outstanding architects: SNOHETTA ARCHITECTURE DESIGN PLA, Gensler, CGL ARCHITECTS, HLW, Foster + Partners, Studio 26 Design Collaborative, LLC, JLG Architects
La Nube, meaning ‘the cloud’ in Spanish, is an innovative STEAM discovery center located in downtown El Paso, Texas. It offers visitors of all ages the chance to explore, play, create, and challenge the limits of innovation. True to its name, La Nube is a place where imaginations can reach as high as the clouds. The building is a 2025 MCA Design Award winner.
The building’s distinctive geometries make it stand out in the city’s skyline: the rectilinear base, encased in glass, offers interior views that attract passersby to enter the public lobby. Above, a series of rippling barrel vaults rise gracefully, culminating in a crown that resembles clouds.
To bring this creative vision to life, the design team used metal wall systems to shape the building’s “cloud-like” form. They employed modular aluminum wall panels—finished in Ascot White, Bone White, and a custom white—in different widths and lengths to create a bold, patterned façade. Arranged vertically, these panels form a flowing, cloud-inspired appearance that changes with light and perspective, reinforcing the building’s symbolic link to endless imagination.
The steel roof panels incorporate recycled materials and are entirely recyclable after their long lifespan. Moreover, the Titanium 70% PVDF roof color has an SRI (Solar Reflectance Index) of 68.60, reflecting sunlight, which reduces heat transfer into the building and decreases the need for air conditioning in hot environments. This also contributes to lowering the building’s operational carbon emissions.
The façade design surpasses simple aesthetics. Floor-to-ceiling windows are embedded in patterned panels, illuminated by the vibrant glow of the interactive exhibits within. Between the wall panels, subtle lighting elements create the illusion of a floating cloud, with small points of light resembling stars at night. These creative details demonstrate how modular wall systems can function both as structural components and as artistic features.
“The broad choice of ATAS modular wall and roof systems provided the design team with the flexibility to turn their vision into reality,” said Steve Minunni, Director of Modular Wall Systems at ATAS. “The wide range of profiles, colors, and support from a single source allowed the project to balance creativity and practicality.”
Now celebrating its first anniversary, La Nube joyfully continues to embody innovation and inclusivity in El Paso. It serves as a wonderful example of how carefully designed wall systems can transform a simple idea into a meaningful architectural and cultural icon.
For the Field House at Pompano Beach’s Youth Sports Complex in Florida, Brooks+Scarpa was seeking a flexible, durable and cost-effective material to craft the underside of the building’s front porch.
Constructed as a sloped concrete shell, the architects selected a metal lattice to wrap around the porch of the building. Painted yellow, the covered area connects the glass curtainwall entrance and the exterior concrete shell. Daylighting filters through the porch and the natural breeze is enhanced by fans hanging from the yellow ceiling.
The porch helps shade the building, mitigating solar heat gain and reducing HVAC costs.
The design as made from Pac-Clad Precision Series aluminum box rib panels and a steel composite deck with aluminum tubes and plates.
The yellow theme continues inside, on the ceiling of the porch overhang and some of the interior structure’s facades, which are both clad in corrugated metal panels. The yellow metal lattice and corrugated metal panels combine to create what’s been described as a “playful and sculptural” design.
The aluminum gave the designers the ability to shape the undulating pattern that connects with the ground and is suspended above in different sections of the north elevation, creating a curtain-shaped entry from the concrete overhang to the porch area. The metal system also provides the durability and low maintenance features the complex was seeking.
Small metal tabs are connected to the poles of the lattice to form the letters “YSC”. Used as a branding element, the sign welcomes visitors and can be viewed from 110th Street, just north of Fort Lauderdale.
A concrete bench wraps around the lattice, providing athletes and visitors a place to escape the sun. in this outdoor living room.
The shape of the board-formed concrete roof slopes down towards a central point. Here rainwater is directed by gutters where it is sent to an adjacent rain garden of glass, rocks and shrubs. The architects’ intent was making a “spectacle of rainfall” to allow visitors to observe the channeling of the rainfall.
Once the rain reaches the garden, whatever is not absorbed by the ground is filtered back into an aquifer.
The YSC houses 10 acres of soccer, football and lacrosse fields built to accommodate large-scale sports events and tournaments with up to a 1000 people, while the new 4,100-square-foot Field House houses concessions, offices, restrooms and equipment storage.
Winner of a 2024 AIA California Design Award, the project “earned points” for its selection of materials, including metal.
“The choice of locally sourced materials not only supports the regional economy but also lowers transportation expenses. By aligning cost-saving measures with thoughtful design decisions, this field house demonstrates that economic efficiency need not come at the expense of quality or design integrity,” stated the jury.
Every year, MCA’s judges are impressed with the entries. This year is no exception. View all the winners and tell us which you like the most in the comments!
See all the winners > >
Congrats to the 1st Place Award Winners: 3A Composites, ATAS International, Inc., Kingspan Insulated Panels North America, Metal Sales Manufacturing Corp, Norbec, PAC-CLAD | Petersen, Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings
Having outgrown its previous facility, the Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine tasked Bruner/Cott Architects with designing a playful, colorful façade to celebrate the heritage and natural landscape of Thompson’s Point and engage the riverfront.
In creating the building form, the architects studied the Point’s historic brick structures to reproduce the proportions, rhythm and fenestration pattern in the design.
Located along the Fore River, west of downtown Portland, steel cross-bracing references the site’s industrial and shipping heritage. The braces are exposed in the main gathering and exhibit spaces and provide seismic force resistance.
A proportion of the enclosure is glass curtainwall with the majority of the cladding made of aluminum tiles.
“Comprised of painted metal shingles, the exterior boasts a playful, bold pattern inspired by the patterns of Maine’s regional ecosystem,” says Jason Forney, FAIA, partner and principal at Bruner/Cott Architects. The tiles are predominantly Cityscape and Weathered Zinc, with strategical pops of Slate Blue Steel and Stone White.
The tiles appear to shift from cream to mottled grays, with splashes of sea/sky-blue.
“The overall exterior design expression was inspired by patterns found in nature: ripples on the water, wings of a butterfly, scales of a fish and bark on a tree,” explains Forney.
Coated in a 1-mil-thick fluropolymer (PVDF) two coat system with a 0.2-mil primer and 0.8-mil Kynar 500 (70%) solid color coat, the aluminum tiles measure 7 1/4-inch by 6 3/16- inch. A two-man crew installed all the metal shingles at a rate of approximately 500 tiles per day.
Metal is also featured in the entrance vestibule in the form of a 4-mm-thick ALUCOBOND PLUS metal composite material (MCM) with a fire-retardant core in Tuscan Sun.
The primary structural system is steel post and beam, with metal stairs and railings appearing through the museum.
Meeting the museum’s goal of expanding its programming and services, the 30,000-square-foot building includes a 100-seat theater, exhibits, classroom and maker space, meeting rooms and offices. The site also features an outdoor play area adjacent to the waterfront.
Situated on the site is a former railway repair yard, an interesting aspect of the project was working with the existing fill soil. Because removing the soil and placing it with structural soil would have been cost prohibitive, the decision was made to preload the compact soil.
Other sustainable design strategies include a well-insulated enclosure, low-wattage LED lighting, a variable refrigeration flow system for heating and cooling, and a radiant floor in the main lobby.
Featuring a variety of exhibits, performances and activities like water play, crafts and play acting, the museum is drawing locals and tourists alike.
Congrats to MG McGrath – Architectural Surfaces + Architectural Glass & Glazing
Bringing Louis Vuitton’s menswear store in Miami to life is a Marcel Wanders’ designed sculptural façade created with 5,000 square feet of perforated aluminum.
As the French luxury brand’s second free-standing store after Toyko, the new 3,500 square foot destination in the heart of Miami’s Design District is the Metal Construction Association first place Design Award winner in the ornamental category.
Offering some history on the international designer’s original “Diamond Screen” motif which the façade design is based on, Marcel Wanders Design Studio’s Creative Director Gabriele Chiave explained to Dezeen Contributing Editor Jenna McNight that the original hexagonal-shaped module was taken from the leather straps of the high-end retailer’s iconic bags.
While the Diamond Screen design has been used as a room divider in a number of Louis Vuitton stores, its application as a large-scale architectural façade is a first.
The perforated white lattice façade incorporates the signature Louis Vuitton monogram and protruding geometrical boxes, which create a dynamic frontage wrapping around the corner of the building. A 30-centimeter gap between the metal screen and the building’s exterior wall presents a dynamic expression of light and shadow.
“When sunlight hits the building, the shadow of the metal facade drops into the wall, creating a shadow effect of the pattern,” said Chiave. “This shadow creates a beautiful illusion of depth, or a second skin.”
At night, the interior light emanating from the store adds another layer of depth to the three-dimensional façade.
Due to the latticework’s perforated nature, the right material was required to pull off the design. As explained by Alison Gladkowski, a marketing specialist with McGrath in the company’s 2022 MCA Design Award application, perforations inherently weaken a material as pieces are punched out of a larger section and held together by a smaller surface area. Consequently, the selected material had to be strong enough to hold its shape and stability in addition to withstanding Florida’s corrosive costal weather.
“Metal was selected for this project because of the strength, durability, and customization options of the material,” said Gladkowski. “Metal was also a great choice because it mixed well with the other material textures of the building which included brick, leather, paint, and strategic back-lighting.”
MG McGrath fabricated and installed the perforated metal, finished in “Simply White” Kynar to blend in with Miami’s modernist architectural style. The plate panels were cut in-house on a 4,000 watt CNC fiber-optic laser to produce the one-of-a-kind design. MG McGrath also installed tracks for the facade backlighting and stainless-steel accent pieces. The entire installation took less than three months.
The boutique’s interior features exposed concrete, work from local artists, and blue leather handrails complimenting the retail displays of luxury bags, leather goods shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, and more.
By: John Ryan, Metal Construction Association
And for those of you heading to METALCON 2014 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver next week (October 1-3, 2014), be sure to check out the great examples of metal construction that Denver has to offer. Here are a few of our favorites that we highlighted in this blog in 2013. Click the links to view the full blog posts:
Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium -Features insulated metal panels (IMP) from Centria, as well as Reynobond aluminum metal composite material panels (MCM) from Alcoa.
Denver Art Museum – Clad in titanium panels, the Frederic C. Hamilton Building reflects not just the Colorado sun, but also the shapes and angles found in the most prominent part of the Denver landscape–the Rocky Mountains.
Denver Police Crime Lab – Features 30,000 sq. feet of Reynobond® aluminum composite panels in six different colors.
And the Colorado Convention Center (below) even sports some cool metal work of its own on its facade. Be sure to take a walk around Denver while at METALCON 2014 and take note of these and many more examples of stunning architecture and metal construction.
