Featured Projects

The first phase of the Emergency and Critical Care Center at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, La Mesa, CA, features a high-tech appearance, with its gleaming exterior cladding of Alucobond® and Alucobond® Plus materials in Champagne Metallic finish. The five-story addition utilized more than 25,000 sq. ft. of the aluminum composite materials (ACM) manufactured by the Benton, KY, plant of Alcan Composites USA Inc. The materials were distributed, fabricated and installed by Center Glass Co. of La Mesa, CA, which also handled the glass work at the hospital. The Alucobond materials were attached using the System CGD-2000 dry joint system by Center Glass Co.

With its pleasing appearance and superb durability, Contrarian Metal Resources’ InvariMatte-finish stainless steel was deemed the ideal product for the exterior of the new student union at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. As designed by Goody Clancy and Associates of Boston, MA, the 45,000 sq. ft. dining and meeting hall—dubbed The Commons—features both roofing and flat lock wall panels formed from the architectural-grade metal. A&M Roofing and Sheet Metal of Andover, MA, fabricated and installed the 21,000 sq. ft. of roof and wall panels.

Seeing the impressive nature and beauty of his nearly-complete 10,000 square foot hillside home in West Vancouver, British Columbia, an undeterred homeowner decided to recreate the design after the original structure was tragically destroyed by fire. Like the original, the re-build features approximately 2,000 sq. ft. of RHEINZINK 0.7mm/24 gauge Double Lock Standing Seam roof panels and 2,000 sq. ft. of RHEINZINK 0.8mm/22 gauge S-Lock wall panels. Both systems were finished in Preweathered Pro Blue Gray. They were installed by TV Metals, Coquitlam, British Columbia. Michel Coutya of Vancouver designed the home.

Coinciding with the institution’s 30th anniversary, the new home of New York City’s New Museum of Contemporary Art is set to open on December 1, 2007. The building is the first fine arts museum ever to be constructed from the ground up in Manhattan. And if that alone were not enough to make it special, its exterior cladding combines extruded aluminum wall panels with an expanded metal mesh covering. The system used was developed exclusively for the project, with M.G. McGrath of Maplewood, MN, assisting in the design and handling the installation.

More than 36,000 sq. ft. of Metl-Span CF Architectural wall panels were installed in a horizontal configuration to provide a modern look for Takao America Corporation’s new manufacturing facility in Canton, MI. Takao is a major provider of die manufacturing, pressing and welding for the automotive industry. The panels were finished in two custom colors, Ascot White and Silversmith, and were highlighted with contrasting painted accent striping running the length of the building. The building was designed by GHAFARI Associates of Dearborn, MI, with SDI Exterior Systems of Farmington Hills, MI, handling the insulated metal wall panel installation.

With all due respect, Akron, Ohio is about the last place you’d expect to find a provocative piece of modern architecture. Yet the Akron Art Museum’s John S. and James L. Knight addition is just that. The 63,000 sq. ft. addition was designed by COOP HIMMELB(L)AU of Austria and represents the celebrated firm’s first public project in the United States. The addition represented a first for the museum too. After having operated out of existing buildings since its inception in 1922, the addition is the museum’s first purpose-built space. One of the addition's eye-catching features is its 327'-long cantilevered canopy. Framed with steel, it is covered with an egg crate aluminum screening produced by Ohio Gratings Inc.

Cambridge Architectural, Cambridge, MD, employed its unique design-build approach to outfit the exterior of a newly constructed Massachusetts parking garage in glistening woven metal fabric. The structure is at Reservoir Woods, a 120-acre, $16 million office complex in Waltham, MA. Spagnolo Gisness & Associates, Inc. of Boston, MA, designed the garage, which uses a combination of Cambridge's Scale and Mid-balance products. They were attached using the company's Eclipse tension attachment hardware.

The first-ever Cambria Suites hotel has opened in Boise, ID. What’s noteworthy about this project from a metal construction standpoint is that it utilizes approximately 12,000 sq. ft. of Citadel Architectural Products’ Envelope 2000 metal composite material panels on its exterior. Cambria Suites is a brand of Choice Hotels International, which franchises more than 5,300 hotels throughout the United States. The look for the new chain was developed by Minds Eye Architecture of Charlotte, NC, and is being repeated at approximately 50 other locations throughout the country.

Since its construction in the early 1970s, the roof of the 170,000 sq. ft. Capital Welding Company building in Dameron, MD, had been maintained through periodic patching and caulking. But with numerous leaks and the interior gutters rusting through, the time had come for a complete replacement. And while such a project can be costly and disruptive, the impact in this case was lessened significantly by the use of an innovative retrofit method that allowed for the installation of a new metal roof without first removing the old. The key to the approach was the use of Roof Hugger sub-purlins in between. Roof Huggers are manufactured by Roof Hugger Inc., Lutz, FL.

After the home's original shake shingle roof sustained significant storm damage, the owner of an upscale residence in Orlando, FL, wanted a new metal roof installed that would be “the last roof we put on this house.” To that end, approximately 12,000 sq. ft. of Petersen Aluminum Corp.'s SNAP-CLAD panels were installed. The 16” wide, 24 gauge galvanized steel panels were finished in Copper Penny. Handling the installation was RAE CO of Ocala, Ocala, FL.

Duane Hagadone wasn't born into money but over the course of his 74 years he's amassed a fortune. When he decided to build his dream home in Palm Desert, CA, he used the very best that money could buy. That's why he covered the $30 million home's 57 curved and angled roof segments with 20 oz. Tecu Oxide copper, and why he wrapped its fascia surfaces with gold crystal-finish titanium panels. Responsible for the fabrication and installation of both the copper roofing and the titanium fascia panels was M.G. McGrath Architectural Sheet Metal of Maplewood, MN.

Contrarian Metal Resources of Pittsburgh, PA, supplied nearly 6,000 sq. ft. of its proprietary Starlight 2J-finish stainless steel for fabrication into exterior solar reflectors and interior metal wall panels at the new Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in Baltimore, MD. The exterior and interior metal panels were fabricated by Bunting of Verona, PA, and installed by Allegheny Millwork of Lawrence, PA. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson of Baltimore designed the 10-story building, which opened in October 2006.

A huge project at the Air National Guard Base in Martinsburg, WV, is underway to prepare the 167th Airlift Wing for the arrival of 11 C-5 Galaxy aircraft. The C-5 is one of the largest aircraft in the world and the largest airlifter in the Air Force inventory. More than $190 million in federal funding has been invested at the facility to construct new hangars, fuel lines and a flight simulator. One of the new hangars is for aircraft maintenance. Utilized for its construction was 70,000 sq. ft. of Metl-Span CF-42 Mesa insulated metal wall panels. The general contractor on the project was Clark Construction, Bethesda, MD. The design team consisted of CH2M HILL, Herndon, VA and DMJM Design, San Francisco, CA.

As one of the world’s leading providers of architectural mesh systems, Cambridge Architectural’s innovative metal fabric systems have lent aesthetic appeal, sophistication and functionality to countless structures, including theaters, restaurants, museums, hotels, universities, parking structures and more. Adding to the Cambridge, MD-based company’s ever-growing portfolio is the newly constructed mixed-use office tower at Providence, RI’s GTECH Center. There, a Cambridge metal fabric Facade system drapes the lower floors of the building’s exterior. The building was designed by Spagnolo Gisness & Associates Inc. of Boston.

Key Biscayne House is a $5 million, 10,000 sq. ft. home on Biscayne Bay in Key Biscayne, FL. It was designed by Village Architects Inc. in the Florida vernacular and with a Mediterranean influence. In addition to graceful masonry and stucco, its exterior is adorned with an Englert standing seam metal roof. The panels were formed by Met Roofing of Miami.

Maplewood, MN-based M.G. McGrath has established itself as a leading fabricator and installer of custom architectural metal façade systems. Examples of the firm’s work can be seen throughout its home state, including in the company’s own backyard. The exterior of the Maplewood Library is a showcase for McGrath’s talents, featuring 8,000 sq. ft. of the company’s hook seam wall panels—fabricated from RHEINZINK material—and 8,500 sq. ft. of .090”-thick flush seam wall panels faced with expanded aluminum sheets. McGrath also created for the project 8,500 sq. ft. of prefinished liner panels.

Aluminum composite panels from Laminators Inc. of Hatfield, PA, have been used on more than 300 Honda dealerships across the country. The most recent was in Dublin, CA, home of Dublin Honda. There, nearly 4,700 sq. ft. of Laminators’ Omega-Lite and Omega-Flex panels—in Honda Blue (custom color) and Bright Silver—were incorporated into a design developed in accordance with the auto maker’s corporate specifications.

With its strong resemblance to an alien spacecraft preparing to land, a state-of-the-art health club at the Spazio Shopping Centre in Zoetermeer, Netherlands has become an iconic landmark. Frits van Dongen of the Netherlands designed the one-of-a-kind building, which was completed in 2005 and is known by many as “The UFO”. Featured on the exterior of the project is 14,000 sq. ft. of Kalzip curved and tapered stucco-embossed aluminum panels.

A Space Sculpting metal fabric system from Cambridge Architectural lends contemporary flare to the interior of the newly constructed Las Vegas, NV, location of ‘Wichcraft, a trendy sandwich, salad and pastry shop. The woven stainless steel fabric system was installed as a moveable screen to define space in the eatery, located on MGM Grand’s Studio Walk. The shop’s bold and dramatic color scheme, contemporary seating areas and distinctive stainless steel metal fabric treatment contribute to the exceptional décor and dining experience.

An Overly Mfg. Batten B roof system, formed from stainless steel featuring Contrarian Metal Resources' InvariMatte finish, was selected to top the new Jamaica AirTrain JFK Terminal, a $350 million multimodal transfer point that links the new light rail system from JFK International Airport to the Long Island Rail Road, New York City Transit subway lines, and ground transportation centers.