Tag Archives: College Buildings

Arced and Ready for Football

Design, flexibility, Metal Construction, metal roofing, Performance, Recyclability, standing seam, , , , , , , ,
The John & Mary Brock Football Facility, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

By:  Jane Martinsons, Metal Construction Association

Although the credit of Georgia Tech’s 63-21 win over Western Carolina last weekend belongs to the team and coaches of the Atlanta-based institute, maybe, just maybe, metal roofing played a role in the win? Okay it’s a stretch, but consider this: Georgia Tech players began practicing in the school’s new indoor practice facility in August, and that facility has a metal roof that is designed to arc like a perfectly thrown pass and provide maximum space inside. If the roof “played a role in a winning football formula,” says Bill Croucher, director of engineering at Lancaster-PA-based Fabral, then “Fabral is happy to be part of it.”

It sounds like a win-win to us.

Croucher says that metal is a top choice for curved roofs on stadiums and practice facilities because it provides a choice of color, profiles, and paint and substrates; has a high-recycled content; and is 100% recyclable when the useful life of the roof is over. Moreover, Fabral’s structural standing-seam metal roof offers superior wind-uplift resistance and is Class A fire rated.

Joseph A. Knight, AIA, Knight Architects, Inc., Atlanta, points out that the metal roof panels stretch the full width of the 80,000-square-foot building, without any end-seams. The 24-gauge Galvalume panels are 245-feet long and 16-inches wide. “The metal shines and contrasts nicely with the adjacent brick buildings, as well as the brick at the base of the practice facility itself,” Knight says. “There is really no other material we could have used that would have presented such an aesthetically and economically strong solution.”

School Construction Trending Towards Metal

Education, Energy Efficient, metal roofing, metal walls, New Construction, News, Retrofit, Universities, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By: John Ryan, Metal Construction Association

My daughter just started kindergarten this fall, and picking her up from school each day often reminds me of my days in grammar school. The brick-walled schools that I attended years ago are still in use today (they seemed so much bigger back then), and still providing students with a great environment in which to learn.

But just as I am reminded that every year I am getting older, there are reminders that the country’s thousands of school buildings are aging, too. Many are being replaced with new, state-of-the-art schools, and many more are being retrofitted to make them current with the latest education, technology and energy standards.

Retrofitted High School
William Allen High School, Allentown, PA

And with more frequency than in the past, those familiar brick walls are being upgraded and replaced with new, energy-efficient metal walls and roofs. Take, for instance, the Metal Construction Association’s newest case study on the William Allen High School in Allentown, PA. The school—originally constructed with brick masonry—had outgrown its existing space, so they built a new addition on an adjacent lot. The exterior of the new building is a combination of brick and metal panels, with the majority of wall surfaces being insulated metal panels (IMPs).

The metal complements the brick aesthetically—a trend that we are seeing more and more of—and it helped the new building attain LEED gold certification. Not only are the IMPs energy-efficient, but the added benefit of quick installation (IMPs allowed the building to be enclosed with insulation and the finished panel in one shot) made them an ideal choice for this project.

Check out our case study library for additional examples of how schools—new and old—are making use of metal walls and roofs.

Be Inspired By the 2012 Chairman’s Award Recipients

metal roofing, metal walls, News, , , , , , , , , , ,

The Metal Construction Association (MCA) and The Metal Initiative had a productive week last week at METALCON International in Rosemont, IL. METALCON is the premier event for the metal design and construction industry, and MCA is proud to sponsor this event each year.

Each year at METALCON MCA unveils the Chairman’s Awards, which are given to some of the most innovative and creative projects involving MCA member companies. Want to be inspired by some amazing designs featuring metal walls and roofs? Take a few minutes to read more about the winners and view the video featuring the nine winners from 2012.

And keep coming back to the blog or to the metal building case studies over the coming weeks and months for more inspiring information about each of the 2012 Chairman’s Award recipients.

The New Ivy Covered Walls

by Ted S. Miller, Miller Clapperton

When you hear the term “ivy covered walls” your mind almost automatically shifts to a university campus, with masonry buildings in collegiate gothic style with ivy expanding up the walls surrounding a grassed quadrangle.  Can’t you smell a grill cooking meat for the tailgating party before the football game?

I have visited two (2) university campuses this week and I can report to you that much of the new construction on these campuses has a new feature element and it is not ivy on masonry anymore.  What I have seen is attractive uses of metal, sometimes the entire wall in metal but most commonly metal walls are being used as the featured element of the building.

Continue reading The New Ivy Covered Walls →