Fuog/InterBuild Inc. is no stranger to winning National Frame Building Association awards. During the past two decades, the Purcellville, VA construction company has garnered four NFBA Building of the Year awards while finishing second or third in the judging numerous other times. In 2017 the firm once again claimed the post frame association's top project honor and this time it did it with the help of a Designer hydraulic door from Schweiss Doors.
Fuog/InterBuild's latest win comes in the Commercial Buildings Under 5,000 Square Feet category, for a privately-owned helicopter hangar in its own back yard. Owned by Chuck Kuhn and located in rural Purcellville, the barn-style post-frame hangar stands out functionally and aesthetically due in large part to its 55' x 16' custom-finished hydraulic door from Schweiss. The exterior of the door is clad with Hardie Plank wood siding while the inside is finished with trimmed-out metal panels. Four decorative tinted windows, two with awnings, complete the door's look. Because of the weight of the door's non-standard finishes and features—the wood siding alone weighed 7,100 pounds—a stronger-than-normal lift system is utilized to power it up and down.
Garland LaRue, Project Manager for Fuog/InterBuild, discovered Schweiss Doors through an Internet search and said the hangar owner loved the hydraulic door.
“I think the quality of construction of the hydraulic door is wonderful,” LaRue says. “We definitely would use it again and recommend it to others. It was also easy to install, the shipping of it and customer service was great on all points. Brent and Jeremy at Schweiss were very helpful.”
Other unique features of the hangar include an interior finish of board-and-batten siding walls with Berridge A-Panel. The vaulted ceiling has 1"x6" tongue-and-groove woodwork. A high loft with four windows provides suitable daylighting into the hangar, which hosts offices for the pilot and in-flight manager.