IW Series

CENTRIA Formawall® and IW Series Panels Achieve  Aesthetic and Performance Goals at Minnesota Vikings Facility
Design Innovation
CENTRIA Formawall® and IW Series Panels Achieve Aesthetic and Performance Goals at Minnesota Vikings Facility
April 8, 2019 at 8:00 am 0

The Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center — also serving as the Minnesota Vikings Team Headquarters and Practice Facility — exemplifies the team’s spirit, unity, and resilience. Through its design, it also nods to ancient Viking history, culture, country of origin, and forms including longships and their intricate jewelry. Because of its outstanding aesthetic, CENTRIA’s Formawall® high-performance building envelope was deemed the ideal product to fulfill Crawford Architects’ vision, simultaneously meeting stringent performance goals and enabling efficient construction.

The entire complex spans 40 acres, and a massive 546,488 total square feet. CENTRIA Formawall and IW Series panels contributed to more than 225,000 square feet of exterior cladding. It includes custom architectural overlays and was also awarded with a very aggressive schedule; the entire team was able to meet the stringent goals in a timely fashion.

“A highly flexible system, Formawall enabled us to achieve our ‘glacial’ design objective. And as a bonus, it offers standardized panel dimensions,” says Doug Osborn, Senior Associate, Crawford Architects, the firm responsible for the design. “The system is efficiently engineered to expedite the installation process, allowing essentially one pass around the building to create the desired aesthetic while fulfilling performance requirements via the weather barrier, thermal barrier, and vapor barrier.”

The Formawall high-performance building envelope consolidates up to six components found in common wall assemblies into one. The product’s five distinct profiles deliver unlimited design combinations and create the world’s most imaginative building envelopes. In addition, all Formawall products include a standard halogen-free foam core, thereby creating a more sustainable building environment while improving the product’s fire performance.

“The Formawall system, including necessary flashings, sealants, and other components, provided very clean lines and the right kind of crisp, refined appearance we wanted for the exterior of this facility,” Osborn says. “CENTRIA products consistently possess a high degree of quality, and we also appreciate the finished appearance of the Formawall design.”

Also designed to be a true home for the Minnesota Vikings, and those who work with them, the facility has achieved its goal of unity, illustrated by the fact that team members opt to train in the space during the offseason.

“The facility is relentless in its demand for quality; it unifies all those that call it home and it expresses innovative design and construction,” says Osborn. “The team has signed free agents that have commented that the lure of training at the Center was too great an opportunity to pass up. And current players have opted to spend the offseason in Minnesota so they can access the facility’s amenities and continue to train.”

The Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center and Minnesota Vikings Practice Facility and Team Headquarters was completed in March 2018. Crawford Architects provided design services and the general contractor was Kraus-Anderson Construction Company. The CENTRIA dealer and installer was IWR North America. 

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CENTRIA Panels Reflect State-of-the-Art Elementary School’s  Modern Approach to Learning
Design Innovation
CENTRIA Panels Reflect State-of-the-Art Elementary School’s Modern Approach to Learning
March 14, 2019 at 8:00 am 0

Approximately 50,000 square feet of CENTRIA’s SRS 3 standing seam metal roof panels in straight and curved iterations, plus 25,000 square feet of Concept Series CS-60 rainscreen panels, and 10,000 square feet of IW-Series metal rainscreen panels together form the modern, clean aesthetic of the state-of-the-art Montour Elementary School located in McKees Rocks, PA.

With an educational approach that incorporates science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math – or STEAM – the 173,000-square-foot school is the primary facility for the Montour Elementary School district and serves Robinson and Kennedy Townships, Pennsbury Village, and the Boroughs of Ingram and Thornburg.

The SRS 3 panels enabled the school’s distinctive curved roof to become a reality, thanks to their long panel lengths and versatile installation. The panels were ideal because they could be field-formed to suit the project’s needs and could be installed quickly and easily.

“The most unique aspect of the project was the field rollforming and field curving of the roof panels,” explains Randy McClure of Essig-McClure, the CENTRIA product dealer. “All of the material arrived on the site exactly when it was needed, and Pennsylvania Roofing Systems was able to set up on a low roof and produce and distribute all of the panels.”

The building’s modern design was achieved with CENTRIA Concept Series single-skin rainscreen panels and IW Series panels. Concept Series incorporates concealed fasteners to provide a sleek, unbroken appearance with exceptional aesthetic versatility. IW Series panels eliminate exposed fasteners for a clean, unbroken look.

The Concept Series panels were specified in a range of colors: Cavern Clay, Regal White, Brick II, and Silver Gray. All were used strategically across the façade to enhance visual interest and generate a playful character.

The Montour Elementary School was completed in August 2017 in time for the school year. The lead architect was Pittsburgh-based Architectural Innovations, and general contracting services were provided by Lobar Construction. The CENTRIA dealer was Essig-McClure, Inc. and the installer was AP Metal Sales and Pennsylvania Roofing Systems.

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Modern Metal Rainscreen Aesthetic
Design Innovation
Modern Metal Rainscreen Aesthetic
September 18, 2018 at 4:39 pm 0

The mixed-use 71 France apartment maximizes space with modern amenities and exceptional performance.

Just outside of Minneapolis, the city of Edina, Minn., has become a destination for people of all ages looking for an urban experience filled with dining, retail, culture, and possibilities. A particular point of pride for the town is the Edina Promenade, an 80-foot-wide greenway that was built to tie the area’s retail, residential, and recreational offerings together. It features bike trails, public art, and a 10-acre lake. (more…)

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A Warm Welcome
Design Innovation
A Warm Welcome
May 17, 2017 at 5:41 pm 0

Duluth Transit Authority rolls out $27 million facility as a red carpet to passengers and pedestrians.

Aaron Kelly, AIA, LEED AP, received an immersive welcome to Duluth, Minn.

“My third day on the job at LHB was an interview for the project,” Kelly, the award-winning specialist in civic, sustainable design, says. “I was all in and have been living and breathing it for three years.”

The project Kelly refers to is the $27 million, 150,000 square foot Duluth Multimodal Transportation Center. The sleek, modernist structure offers an amalgam of transit services – bus, car, taxi, trolley, bike, and pedestrian – in a prominent, high-profile downtown location for the city’s 90,000 residents. (more…)

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Urban Context
Design Innovation
Urban Context
September 20, 2016 at 7:59 pm 0

For an environment where durability and security are paramount, metal provides a functional and attractive solution.

Building a new elementary school in a busy urban environment like Los Angeles comes with many opportunities and challenges. When Irvine, California-based architectural firm gkkworks was contracted to design the Sally Ride Elementary project for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the designers wanted to create a community asset that would be a positive improvement to the physical construct of the neighborhood while assisting LAUSD with student achievement through architecture and performance-based design. (more…)

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Aesthetic and Technological Advantage
Design Innovation
Aesthetic and Technological Advantage
July 13, 2016 at 5:46 pm 0

Mon Power Regional Headquarters showcases creative spark.

Round the bend on southbound Interstate 79 just past the Highway 250 interchange in Fairmont, W.Va. and prepare to be amazed: A futuristic, high-tech citadel suddenly towers over the rolling West Virginia countryside.

The Mon Power Regional Headquarters is a dazzler. The $50 million, 148,000-square-foot data center “looks like you’re going to run into it. By design, it’s perfectly situated for maximum visibility from the interstate,” explains Richard T. Forren AIA, NCARB, principal/senior project architect, of Omni Associates Architects, Inc., the building’s designers.

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