CHEROKEE NATION

Photos courtesy: Petersen Aluminum

For Cherokee Nation Entertainment’s 10,000 square-foot Ramona Casino in Ramona, Okla., Selser Schaefer Architects specified varying sizes and gauges of Petersen Aluminum panels in custom Bright Red, Colonial Red, Copper Penny and Slate Gray.

With its eye-catching red and gray curving metal façade, it’s difficult to miss Cherokee Nation Entertainment’s new 10,000 square-foot Ramona Casino while cruising down Highway 75 in northeast Oklahoma.

Built in the city that is home to the first commercial oil well, Selser Schaefer Architects went with a unique, curved building form to relate to the fluidity of oil with two oil derricks flanking the casino’s main entrance.

In order to create this look, the architect specified bright red, copper penny and slate gray metal panels of varying profiles, which were then molded into concave and convex forms to achieve the curvilinear façade.

However, the biggest challenge – according to Dave Stanley, owner of the roofing contractor on the project, Abco Roofing, Broken Arrow, Okla. – was the reveal detail.

“The reveal detail looked like a hat channel recessed in the wall and had to curve with the wall. This could not be roll-formed,” he explains. “We made the reveal in 10-ft. lengths in the shop and then turned the hat up and saw-cut it to enable us to bend it to the wall. The bottom of the hat then showed the saw joints and we covered it with flat metal to conceal the joints.”

NEW DISCOVERIES

Photos courtesy: Petersen Aluminum

Drawing attention to the Discovery Park of America museum in Union City, Tenn., architect Verner Johnson used approximately 33,000 sq. ft. of PAC-CLAD .032 Silver Metallic Tite-Loc and Snap-On Standing Seam Panels to create dramatically-curved elements. In addition, 11,000 sq. ft. of PAC-CLAD Flat Stock in Silver Metallic and Bone White was used for soffits, flashings and detailing.

Aiming for a futuristic, uplifting look for the Discovery Park of America’s “mini-Smithsonian” attraction in rural Union City, Tenn., Verner Johnson architects chose a metal standing seem roof with curving forms to achieve this design vision while staying on budget.

Inside the 100,000 square-foot Center, the Grand Hall and South Hall hosts 60,000 square feet of exhibit space on a variety of history and science-related subjects. To really bring out the architecture of this popular tourist site, the roofs on both halls curve dramatically, each hall at a different height and angle.

In particular, the Grand Hall roof deck slopes in three directions, resembling the shape of a football, which required a high level of craftsmanship by the roofing contractor.

“There are about 400 panels on the roof and no two are exactly alike,” relates Gordon Jones, president, Ralph Jones Sheet Metal, Arlington, Tenn. “Every one of them is custom.”

ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DECLARATIONS

Driven by newer requirements in green building rating systems such as LEED v4, specifiers are on the hunt for building materials and products, with prepared Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), establishing that product’s full environmental impact covering raw material extraction, manufacturing, transport and distribution, product use and end of life. This life cycle assessment data must be gathered and third-party verified, in order to make the EPD official.

Thanks to previous efforts on the part of the Metal Construction Association to develop Environmental Product Declaration templates for the metal industry, the timeframe for manufacturers creating their own product EPDs has been significantly shortened, as was the case with one leading manufacturer who furnished such an EPD for its metal panel cladding and roofing products in just six months.

However, this particular company took things a step further than the MCA EPD, which took a cradle-to-gate approach, stopping at the point where metal panels are loaded for shipping to the manufacturing facility. Rather, this EPD goes from cradle-to-grave, including shipping to the site, installation, maintenance and end-of-life disposal.

“In the past, we’ve consulted with university chemists to help us determine how a product might have been manufactured, or what processes had likely been used in its fabrication,” relates B.K. Boley, principal of ADD Inc, now with Stantec, Boston. “Having manufacturers declare this ahead of time will be a great time-saver.”