Located along Ontario’s Highway 401—the busiest and widest highway in North America—5400 Explorer Drive is a prominent 250,000-square-foot industrial facility. Owned by Polaris Realty and situated in Mississauga, the building enjoys
a prime position within the Airport Corporate Centre, directly across from Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Baldassarra Architects was commissioned to give 5400 Explorer Drive a distinctive architectural identity suited for such a high-visibility location. To achieve this, the team incorporated insulated metal panels (IMPs) from Kingspan Insulated Panels to
ensure the design balanced both performance and visual appeal.
“The design of the building was important because it’s located in a corporate industrial business park with a lot of high-profile buildings in that area,” said Michael Baldassarra of Baldassarra Architects. “We thoughtfully used
IMPs along the north side of 5400 Explorer, which faces Highway 401, where it gets a lot of visibility.”
Nearly 83,000 square feet of Kingspan panels were installed by a single installer, Frost, Inc.
This included approximately 69,000 square feet of Kingspan’s QuadCore panels—featuring KS Shadowline in Imperial White, KS Micro-Rib in Zinc Grey, and Optimo in Zinc Grey, Imperial White, and Driftwood. Additionally, 14,000 square feet of
K-Roc HF panels were used in Imperial White.
Kingspan’s KS Series panels offer a range of aesthetic profiles combined with top-tier thermal performance. The adjustable module widths allow for unique architectural integration, while options such as trimless ends and pre-formed corners create
a streamlined, polished finish.
“Due to the height of the building, the primary function was to enable maximum storage for distribution and warehousing. Placing the IMPs horizontally breaks up that massive height nicely and changes the orientation when you look at the building,”
added Baldassarra. “We also did the horizontal IMPs in a Dove Gray base and then Imperial White above that. Creating this different layer with the base also helped break up the height of the building.”
To address fire protection in key areas, Baldassarra Architects also selected Kingspan’s K-Roc panels, known for their high fire resistance ratings.
“From a technical perspective, we had a limiting distance challenge along the west face of the building. To get around that, we went with Kingspan's fire-rated K-Roc panel, which provided us with the fire resistance rating that we needed,”
said Baldassarra.
Beyond visual appeal and fire performance, the IMPs offered additional project advantages, such as quick build times and local availability.
“Construction on this project was started post-COVID in early 2023, so finding materials that were made locally and could be produced quickly was important,” continued Baldassarra. “IMPs also helped get the
building closed up for winter elements and provided us with a weather-tight barrier to allow construction on the inside to commence quickly.”
5400 Explorer Drive was completed in March 2024 and is now occupied by a tenant in its state-of-the-art industrial space.