Editor’s Note: At the time of the project’s original posting, MORIN, the manufacturer of the featured metal roof and wall panel systems, was a division of MeTecno USA. With the Kingspan Group’s purchase of MeTecno USA in August 2008, MORIN is now a Kingspan Group company.
Products from Morin, a Kingspan Group Company, provide both structural and aesthetic benefits through their use in the $40 million makeover of the Merrimack County Nursing Home in Boscawen, NH.
About 48,000 square feet of MORIN’s XAB-16 – an Integrity Series Panel similar to an architectural panel – was applied to the 143-year-old nursing home's exterior. This concealed fastener wall panel, in a Butter-Up Yellow color, measures 16” wide. Usually used as a standing seam roof panel, 74,000 square feet of Cool Regal White BCR-12, measuring at 1 ½” thick and 12 3/4” wide, was used on the building’s walls. Approximately 34,500 square feet of SWL-18-2, in a Cool Patina Green, was specified for roofing.
“The MeTecno USA-Morin Division was instrumental to the design and detailing of the project from the start,” explains architect Jonathan Smith from Concord, NH-based Warrenstreet Architects. “Warrenstreet has had the opportunity to work with MORIN often over the years and has shared a great working relationship. They were able to offer significant savings to the owner while maintaining the original design objective.”
Given that the building envelope included over 100,000 square feet of exterior wall, the design team carefully considered 25 different exterior wall systems for the facility. Key factors that influenced its decision to ultimately go with MORIN products included initial cost, long-term maintenance costs and freedom of design expression. The final wall design consisted of a rain screen of architectural metal panels and an insulated exterior wall cavity.
“Merrimack wanted the home to be durable and maintenance free,” noted Rachel Scholan, Marketing Manager of MeTecno USA. “They were looking for a product that would emulate residential style construction which MeTecno USA was able to provide for them.”
The owner also challenged Warrenstreet to take the “institution” out of the home. Merrimack’s main focus was to construct a resident-focused facility that did not imitate the institutional nature of the 286-bed nursing home it was replacing.
First, the design team decided to build new rather than try to renovate the occupied facility. Architectural aluminum wall panels, formed in the shape of oversized clapboards and vertical board and batten siding, were used to emphasize the residential nature of the project to achieve the owner’s requests. This was further reinforced through the use of a custom yellow color and the development of a series of metal roofing clad gables and eaves to break away from traditional institutional detailing.
“Warrenstreet Architects and the building owner agreed that the overall image of the building and intent of the design shines through in the final product,” continues Smith. “The owner and residents of the facility are overjoyed with the finished nursing home.”
After two years, construction for the Merrimack County Nursing Home was complete on March 18, 2008. The choice of materials was vital in the grand residential image the building now displays.
Joining Warrenstreet Architects on the project team were the metal installers, AJ Desjardins Roofing Co. Inc., and the general contractor, Harvey Construction Corporation. Both are from New Hampshire.