Magnificent Metal Monday – MCN 2021 Grand Award Winner

The Grand Award winner in the 2021 Metal Construction News Project Excellence Awards and the New Metal Roofs category winner was the New York City-based Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library Rooftop Terrace. The project is noteworthy for its “wizard’s hat-shaped roof” that gracefully disguises the rooftop mechanical equipment above the public terrace. The judges selected it calling it a “brilliant solution for urban design building detail,” citing its roof that was “not typically expected on a historic building.”

Photo: John Bartelstone, courtesy of New York Public Library / MCN

The 106-year-old library in Midtown Manhattan—first designed as a department store—hadn’t been renovated since 1978. Adding a new, visually stunning seventh floor to the library’s formerly unused roof, a L-shaped terrace features meeting venues that host the library’s robust suite of public programs. This utilitarian, publicly accessible, wraparound outdoor terrace showcases city views, and includes a roof garden and an adjacent indoor café. The new geometrical aluminum crown slopes up to cover mechanical equipment, reaching 184 feet above street level. Its angled pitches and patinated copper-colored aluminum surface are inspired by midtown Manhattan’s Beaux Art copper-clad mansard roofs, two 1904 examples of which are visible from the terrace.

Before |Photo courtesy of New York Public Library

After | Photo: John Bartelstone, courtesy of New York Public Library

The full-scale renovation project, designed by Delft, Netherlands-based Mecanoo and New York City-based Beyer Blinder Belle, expands the building to 180,000 square feet. Metal played a part in several inventive approaches that allowed the Wizard’s Hat to float over the building below. “The composite-manufactured metal roof panels were designed with their own plywood substrate, insulation and structural studs, the latter of which have a heavier gauge than would be expected,” Garrett says. “As a result, there was no need for additional structural supports to be added on-site. These physically streamlined panels connect to slope structural steel beams, which are spaced with an intentionally rhythmic pattern that seamlessly integrates with the seventh floor’s glass-enclosed spaces.”

For the metal panels, 6,400 square feet of perforated ZIP-RIB screen wall panels, and 9,500 square feet of solid ZIP-RIB roof and wall panels were supplied by Burlington, N.J.-based Merchant & Evans Co. Inc. (M&E), now Norcross, Ga.-based Innovative Metals Co. Inc. (IMETCO). A 16-inch-wide module matched the spacing of the prefabricated framing system. The perforated panels allow airflow while hiding unsightly rooftop equipment. “The ZIP-RIB panel is a 2 1/2-inch deep mechanically seamed cladding system for roofs and walls that can be factory formed or field formed depending on the demands of the project,” says Josh Younger, marketing manager at IMETCO. “ZIP-RIB panels accommodate complex roof configurations including convex and concave curves and tapers.” In addition to metal panels and trim, M&E provided tapered stainless steel internal gutters, fall protection, snow guards and custom light brackets painted to match the roof.

Two METALCON “household names” worked on the project as well: S-5! supplied its Colorgard snow retention system and Sherwin Williams’ Fluropon coating in Patina Green was used.

Metal Construction News announced the winners of their annual Project Excellence Awards in December 2021. The other category winners are:

• Metal Walls – New Construction: Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts & Sciences
• Metal Walls – Retrofit: Pennsylvania State Police Department Headquarters
• Metal Building Systems Buildings: Mesa Rim
• Metal Craftsmanship: Mississippi County Courthouse Dome
• Metal Roofing – Retrofit: Museum of Science and Curiosity
• Judges Award: Facebook Building
• Judges Award: Milestone Residence
• Judges Award: 4141 Fairbanks

For a full list of 2021 winners, click HERE. MCN is taking currently taking submissions for their 2022 contest through September 16. To enter, click HERE.

Metal Construction News, the original news magazine of the metal construction industry, is a publication partner of METALCON and producer of the official show guide. HOT OFF THE PRESS — check out the METALCON 2022 DIGITAL SHOW GUIDE, produced by Metal Construction News. With only 5 weeks to go until the “greatest spectacle in metal,” check out the guide for complete show information, including keynote speakers, the full education program, the floor plan, list of exhibitors, and more. METALCON 2022 is taking place October 12 – 14 in Indianapolis at the Indiana Convention Center.

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