In June of 2013, a slow-moving weather system began dumping rain on northern Alberta, Canada. The city of Calgary was particularly hard hit, as the city’s two major rivers spilled over their banks. What many now call “the great flood” caused millions of dollars in damage.

The City of Calgary uses a series of sanitary lift stations to transport wastewater from low-lying areas to higher areas, where gravity-flow carries it to wastewater treatment plants. The buildings house generators and hydraulic systems.

The city’s original Roxboro lift station, built in 1956, was damaged in the 2013 flooding. The city spent two years collecting data on the sanitary flows in Roxboro in order to design a replacement facility that could meet its needs. The new $1.7 million facility would also need to be built to withstand a one in 100-year flood.

Engineers came up with a new design and new location for the Roxboro lift station, and the city asked the public to weigh in on the look of the new facility.

One of the options was brick; the city stated “brick is chosen for its color and warmth, blending in with the landscape during the spring, summer and fall, while standing out in the winter. Brick is also a material found in a number of residential homes, tying this structure in with the community.”

Another option was insulated metal panels as a simple cladding on the structure. The city wrote, “The color of the metal panels compliments the grey concrete structure it wraps around. This material is highly durable with a simple, clean look.”

Thanks to Kingspan Insulated Metal Panels, the city could have both the modern performance of insulated metals and the traditional look of brick.

Marshall Tittemore Architects, the architect for the project, utilized Kingspan’s KarrierPanel Barrier Wall System for the new Roxboro lift station. The KarrierPanel is a cost-effective, universal barrier wall that replaces traditional multi-component wall systems. Prior to this, the city’s lift stations were built using a conventional wall assembly – steel stud, vapor barrier, infill insulation in the cavity, a rain screen, substrate layer and a back channel. That type of construction can contain up to a half dozen individual cladding components. Kingspan’s KarrierPanel accomplishes the same – and does it better – with a single component.

That single component system has a major advantage; the speed of build. The single component system results in less labor time on-site, less construction waste, and a faster close-in and dry-in; all resulting in reduced building costs. For the Roxboro lift station, Kingspan not only provided the materials, but was responsible for the installation as well. Kingspan utilized Deane Roofing as the sole contractor for the build, eliminating the need for multiple trades on site. That speed of build translated into a significant cost savings for the project.

“We enjoyed working with this unique system,” said Colm Deane, owner of Deane Roofing. “It allowed for the quick installation of the waterproofing and insulating elements, which makes for faster, more efficient building close-in and dry-in.”

In the city’s survey, residents responded that they liked the classic look of brick and the fact that it fit in with the look of the neighborhood. The project manager chose red brick for the cladding, based on the public’s input.

Kingspan’s BENCHMARK Thin Brick Façade System allowed Marshall Tittemore Architects to achieve the classic look they wanted in addition to the high-end building envelope performance they needed. The BENCHMARK Thin Brick Façade System holds bricks in place using steel carrier rails to form a permanent mechanical bond; there are no adhesives holding the brick in place. Bricks are produced in the same manner as traditional brick building. They can be installed both vertically and horizontally; and on the Roxboro lift station, portions were installed diagonally and wrapped around the building. That style would have been extremely difficult – if not impossible – to achieve using traditional masonry.

Kingspan provided 4-inch panels for the Roxboro project, which provide a high R-value to protect the machinery from Calgary’s frigid temperatures and also keep the sound from the pumps down.

This is the first time that metal panels have been used for a lift station in Calgary, but likely won’t be the last after successfully combining modern building performance with a traditional look.