People: architect, MPC Consultants, United Kingdom; building contractor, T. Mann Ltd., Essex; and specialist contractor, cu.tech.zn.ornamental ltd, Kent, U.K.
Products: Michigan City, Ind.-based Kalzip manufactured TitanSilver for the facility’s roof.
Fine Points: TitanSilver is part of the company’s foldable aluminum range product line and the panels are easy to fold, lightweight and corrosion-resistant. Although standard TitanSilver welts are almost 1-inch high, the diagonal welts used on this project are 1 1/2 inches high to channel rainfall onto the central section of the roof and down into gutters hidden at low level. The metal roof blends well with the galvanized structural beams and contrasts with the building’s cedar cladding. The contractor prepared the cold roof build-up on a timber substrate and uniformly smooth-curved the plywood base, onto which an underlay was affixed before jointing and fitting the metal outer skin. To avoid stressing any of the panels during installation, they were pre-curved in a workshop using a template so that each panel was accurately formed beforehand and then transported to site in 8-foot lengths together with all the smaller bespoke verge panels.