Since its creation in 1973, The Lumberton Municipal Utility District (MUD) has consistently expanded its coverage area to provide water and waste-water services to more than 24,000 residents of the Lumberton, Texas area. With its administrative staff also increasing steadily over the past four decades, the Lumberton MUD opened a new Operations Center in 2014 – featuring metal products from CENTRIA - to house its growing team and serve its customers more efficiently.

The new Lumberton Municipal Utility District Operations Center was designed with a focus on energy-efficiency to highlight how organizations can be good stewards of their resources. With that objective in mind, the state-of-the-art facility features an innovative system that harvests rainwater from its roof and recycles the water to irrigate the landscape surrounding the building.

"Even though we're the water company, we want to show there are alternative means to watering the grass," explained Lumberton Municipal Utility District Manager Roger Fussell.

Additionally, all of the lights in the building are LED, and the structure is storm-rated, with its own auxiliary power in case a hurricane or other large storm should strike. The facility also is equipped with a “smart” light system. With a wide array of glass panels covering the building, the system continually adjusts the interior lighting according to the amount of sunlight that pours through, thus saving energy.

With a wide selection of products and high level of performance, CENTRIA metal panels were selected for the Lumberton Municipal Utility District Operations Center because of their unique combination of durability, sustainability, aesthetics and economic advantages.

CENTRIA’s Concept Series single-skin panels make inspiring custom aesthetics possible with a fusion of concealed fasteners and a common-lock joint that can be interchanged. Concept Series panels provide thousands of combinations of articulation, shadows and sight lines, along with a complete line of design, finish, integration, special systems and detail options. The sleek and innovative aesthetics of the CS-200 panels were an integral part of the architect’s vision for the facility and contributed to the modern look that sets it apart from other buildings.

Additionally, CENTRIA’s IW Series Concealed Fastener Panels were chosen because they come in a variety of gauges, colors and finishes to match the corresponding Concept Series panels and blend into walls, eliminating visual breaks. The IW Series panels also feature a common-lock joint design that makes interesting visual effects possible and contributed to the “space-age” appearance of the building that the architect desired.

The architect for this project was Long Architects Inc. of Beaumont, TX. The CENTRIA products dealer was Wade Architectural Systems of Humble, TX. The CENTRIA products installer was SLM Construction Services of Cypress, TX. The contractor was Allco Construction of Beaumont, TX. The operations center was completed in January 2014.

CENTRIA products used on this project included:

• Concept Series® Concealed Fastener Panels CS-200 with MicroSeam Corners - Square Feet: 8,325; Color: Fashion Gray; Finish: Smooth; Coating: Kynar; Gauge: 22

• Concept Series Concealed Fastener Panels CS-200 - Square Feet: 1,101; Color: Chromium Gray; Finish: Smooth; Coating: Kynar; Gauge: 22

• Concept Series Concealed Fastener Panels CS-200 - Square Feet: 1,154; Color: Deep Blue Sea; Finish: Smooth; Coating: Kynar; Gauge: 22

• Concept Series Concealed Fastener Panels CS-200 - Square Feet: 854; Color: Arabian Blue; Finish: Smooth; Coating: Kynar; Gauge: 22

• Concept Series Concealed Fastener Panels CS-200 - Square Feet: 813; Color: Slate Blue; Finish: Smooth; Coating: Kynar; Gauge: 22

• IW Series Concealed Fastener Panels IW-14A with MicroSeam Corners - Square Feet: 600; Color: Fashion Gray; Finish: Smooth; Coating: Kynar; Gauge: 22

• IW Series Concealed Fastener Panels IW-14A - Square Feet: 4,672; Color: Slate Blue; Finish: Smooth; Coating: Kynar; Gauge: 22