Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1506758
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 3 | 27 Metal Roofing/Cladding P H OTO G R A P H Y BY K L I M S T EPA N /CO U RT E S Y C A S C A D I A M E TA L S The metal roofing and cladding industry shows resilience with larger projects and high-performance designs by ROBIN BRUNET T he more things change, the more they stay the same: that is the case with the metal roofing and cladding market in 2023, and it's a good thing inasmuch as the elements characterizing the sec- tor over the past number of years – strong sales growth, strong variety of product, and the growing appreciation of high performance and sustainable design – are evident today. With regard to the concealed fastener metal roof market, Doug Wells, RoofStar Technical Advisor at the Roofing Contractors Association of British Columbia (RCABC), recently examined his associa- tion's database with the expectation that guarantees issued on metal roofing were increasing. "We looked at two blocks: 2017 to 2020 and 2020 to 2023," he says. "Interestingly, we had the exact same number of projects in each block. But there was a 40 per- cent increase in squares – a square is a 10-foot by 10-foot area – between the two time frames, mean- ing that while we don't have more projects today, we do have bigger projects." RCABC offers the only third-party comprehensive metal roof guarantee in the industry. One of those projects is the newly named Rosemary Brown Arena (formerly the South Burnaby Ice Arena), designed by hcma and consisting of 87,000 square feet of space, two full NHL-size ice sheets, and a complex metal roof (with exposed mass timber beams) of various planes and geometries. Wells goes on to note that, "We've also been work- ing with Studio One Architecture on numerous schools. A school in Surrey is replacing a bar- rel skylight with a metal panel roof that will have a seven-foot elevation and a 14-foot radius engi- neered by Rimkus Consulting; and Ladner Leisure Centre is getting a replacement roof designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects, all installed by active RCABC members." Wells says, "There was no market slowdown during the COVID lockdowns and there is every possibility of growth in the foreseeable future thanks to the desire for metal roofs to provide longer life cycles in schools and other government institu- tions, warehouses, and civic arenas." The metal cladding sector is no less robust. Sobotec, North America's largest fabricator of metal composites and one of the largest manufacturers of engineered panel systems, recently provided full window wall and integrated aluminum plate panel façade along with other areas of field-installed alu- minum plate panels and siding for the 30-storey McMaster University Graduate Student Residence, which is scheduled to open this September. The building is designed to meet LEED Gold stan- dards and contributes to the ongoing revitalization of downtown Hamilton, with Diamond Schmitt Architects using metal to create a unique light- catching textural treatment (each vertical strip of cladding is composed of two projected right angled triangle segments that meet on a diagonal line, either creating shadows or reflections, and giving the building a twisting appearance). Also nearing completion is Transit City 4 and 5 by CentreCourt and SmartCentres, for which Sobotec SOLID DEFENCE Cascadia Metals' pre-painted PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) steel roofing.