Each year, Metal Construction News (MCN) publishes a survey of the industry, looking at the results of the previous year and speculating on the upcoming year. Your views will impact how metal building product manufacturers think about metal building products and your purchasing. Take the survey today! (PS – enter your e-mail address at the end of the survey to be entered into a drawing for a $100 American Express Gift Card!)
Metal Construction News is a partner publication of METALCON and the sponsor of METALCON’s official show guide at the annual tradeshow.
Who doesn’t love a good potato chip? MMM travels to Barnstable, MA, this week to highlight the fresh look that the Cape Cod Potato Chip facility recently did to their nearly 40-year-old facility. With its growing popularity, Cape Cod Potato Chips has seen its annual number of visitors expand to more than 250,000 and wanted a look as unique as the taste of its kettle cooked chips. To do so, they turned to McElroy Metal to do an exterior renovation with ribbed metal wall panels.
For Magnificent Metal Monday, let’s look ahead into the New Year with ArchDaily’s Top 20 Most Anticipated Projects for 2020. Designed across a wide range of scales, they represent a mix of interconnected landscapes, museums, and the world’s newest skyscrapers located across five continents, with many under construction for multiple years. Three of these projects are new skyscrapers joining the skylines of three major US cities including Chicago, San Francisco and New York.
Central Library in Austin, Texas used perforated anodized aluminum as a central façade design element; Credit: Metal Architecture.
Paul Deffenbaugh, Editorial Director of Metal Construction News, shares his views on the the latest in metal design trends. Mr. Deffenbaugh sits on the judging panels of several design awards and listens as they discuss the merits and qualities of some of the most exciting architectural designs in the world. He says, “Over the last couple of years, we have identified a handful of design trends in the metal construction industry.” They include: use of perforated materials inside and out, use of bright colors, use of cantilevered planes, increase in customization, and how fabricators and installers are becoming linchpins in the construction team.
Featured in the November 22 issue of Metal Construction News, “MRA (Metal Roofing Alliance) Predicts Metal Roofing Trends for 2020.” According to the MRA, “metal roofing is an idea whose time has finally come.” They focused on the top five style and performance trends in the U.S. and Canada:
Show of Strength – Toughening up the home’s exterior to be better prepared for extreme climate changes. “Delicate detailing is out, while the use of heartier exterior features that offer an almost fortress-like feel and are meant to show off a home’s rugged resiliency are more popular than ever.” Metal roofs designed to mimic slate are especially on trend, helping homes achieve a substantial, natural look while delivering serious, low-maintenance and reliable performance.
Chicago-based Skender, a traditional construction firm for 64 years that’s now primarily known as a modular builder, says it’s on the cusp of a proposition that is as efficient a business model as the industry can imagine. From Construction Dive’s point of view, Skender offers the most promising
The Grand Award winner in the 2019 Metal Construction News Building & Roofing Awards is the Clear Lake Recreation & Wellness Center at The University of Houston, Clear Lake, Texas.
Earlier this year, FluidForming Americas predicted that, “Despite new tariffs and labor shortfalls, the strong 2018 metal forming market will likely continue well into 2019. In fact, the global metal stamping market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.9% from 2018 to reach 289.2 billion (USD) by 2023 (Research and Markets).”
Earlier this year, a 150-foot spiral observation deck opened in Denmark and is being touted as an “architectural masterpiece.” Made of a naturally weathered corten steel and locally sourced oak, the structure was designed to blend in with its natural surroundings, but its giant, twisting frame is certainly a sight to behold for those who happen upon it. Time Magazine has named it to its 2019 list of top 100 places to visit in the world!
Located less than one hour’s drive south of Copenhagen, Camp Adventures Forest Tower is a hulking, nearly 150-foot tall spiral tower nestled in the Gisselfeld Klosters Forest. It offers visitors a 360-degree view over the trees, hills, lakes and meadows that make up the natural landscape. The tower and boardwalk opened to the public at the end of March and welcomed more than 2,500 visitors on its first day.
For more on the tower’s architecture and how it was constructed, click HERE.
With only three (business) days to go until we officially open METALCON 2019, here are some exciting show updates regarding the CONTECH technology hub, conference schedule and the METALCON APP. METALCON 2019 is taking place in the “Steel City” of Pittsburgh next week, October 16-19, 2019!
CONTECH
We are excited to announce that technology companies, Dronegenuity and Felux, have been added to further enhance this new feature at METALCON.
As a leading industry voice, PSMJ Founder and CEO Frank A. Stasiowski examines the state of our industry today and reveals the disrupters that will radically alter it by 2030. Just as a far-off earthquake can cause a Tsunami, forces and trends building now will shake the traditional design industry. In his best-selling book, IMPACT 2030, Frank outlines how demographics, globalization, government expansion, and technology advances can benefit firms that plan ahead — and be devastating for those that don’t prepare.
As the expression goes, “timing is everything!” Published this week by ArchDaily.com in partnership with Metropolis, they provide us with an in-depth look at Pittsburgh … home of METALCON 2019! In two weeks, thousands of exhibitors and attendees in the metal construction industry will gather in the “Steel City” for the first time in its 29 year show history. Chosen for its illustrious history in the steel and metal making industry, Pittsburgh was also selected as this year’s show location based on many of the items cited in this article. In their latest volume of Imagining the Modern: Architecture and Urbanism of Pittsburgh Renaissance, editors Chris Grimley, Michael Kubo, and Rami el Samahy explore the reasons behind the Pittsburgh’s revival earning a status of “renaissance“.
The following news was released to the national media this week. A special panel discussion featuring women in metal and roofing will be held on Wednesday, October 16 at 1:00 pm at METALCON 2019, taking place at Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center. For the full news release, see below or click HERE.
As reported by DesignandBuildWithMetal.com this week, “The Metal Construction Association (MCA) has created a new group focused on increasing awareness of Metal Composite Material (MCM) for the architectural building envelope. The MCM Alliance supports product performance testing, initiates research, and promotes education and actions to influence public policies for the utilization and growth of MCM in the marketplace.”
Magnificent Metal Monday travels “across the pond” today to highlight Scotland’s Falkirk Wheel, the only fully rotating boat lift in the world. According to UK based Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the wheel was built as part of the £85.4m Millennium link project to reunite the Forth and Clyde and Union Canals in Scotland. The canals had previously been linked by a staircase of 11 locks which took nearly a day to pass through. The locks were dismantled in 1933. Before the Falkirk Wheel was constructed, it wasn’t possible to get from the Union Canal to the Forth and Clyde by boat. It now takes about 10 minutes for a boat to be lifted from the Forth and Clyde to the aqueduct 24m above that leads to the Union Canal. The Wheel opened in 2002.
Metal Construction News is a partner publication of METALCON 2019 and the sponsor of the Official Show Guide. With less than five weeks to go, REGISTER TODAY to join us in Pittsburgh and participate in the largest event in North America dedicated to metal in design and construction!
Have you noticed how so many of the stories in the industry trades have been about metal panels lately? It’s hard to keep up! Metal panels are clearly a popular solution in the construction world given their aesthetics, the variety and flexibility of materials and cost effectiveness. Members of MCA’s Insulated Metal Panel Group will be on hand at METALCON 2019 next month on the Exhibit Floor as well as offering their expertise during educational sessions (details below). There are too many stories to include them all, but here are some recent ones.
While I was picking my daughter up at the gym the other night, it dawned on me that we have spent countless hours in metal buildings over the past 7 years. With approximately 400 hours of practice per year times nearly 7 years plus gym meets, we are talking nearly 3000 hours! Then I began to realize that these metal buildings are everywhere and truly woven into people’s everyday lives. From gymnasiums, churches and schools, to sports arenas, warehouses, airplane hangars, and retail infrastructures (cue: Amazon distribution centers) … so for Magnificent Metal Monday today, let’s explore what makes these metal structures so functional.
The Metal Construction News Building and Roofing Awards are celebrating their 33rd year of showcasing the innovation and excitement of the metal construction industry. The deadline is approaching – all entries must be received by SEPTEMBER 20, 2019!
The Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo Cancer Treatment and Research Center (CTIC) in Bogotá. Courtesy of Construcciones Planificadas.
Magnificent Metal Monday travels to Columbia, South America to highlight how this once war-torn and one of the most violent places on Earth, is now focused on saving lives. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the country so Colombian real estate development and construction company, Construcciones Planificadas, decided to lead the fight against the disease by sponsoring and building a new, state-of-the-art and sustainable cancer facility in Bogotá.
Recently featured recently in Redshift by Autodesk‘s newsletter, the facility is in the beginning stages of construction and scheduled to open in 2021. The 100,000-square-meter (1,076,391-square-foot) Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo Cancer Treatment and Research Center (CTIC) will initially serve more than 7,000 cancer patients every year with facilities comprising 128 hospital rooms, 30 intensive-care beds, eight radiotherapy bunkers, six operating rooms, 60 chemotherapy chairs, a hematology and bone marrow–transplant clinic, and a 10,000-square-meter (107,639-square-foot) research building.
Metal roll forming might not be as simple as you may think; machines can come in a variety of sizes, product outputs, uses, speeds, and more. Our friends with New Tech Machinery break it down with their Rollforming Learning Center. “Whether you notice it or not, products made using the process of metal rollforming are everywhere. Items could include something as visible as metal roofing or garage doors, or products working behind the scenes, like pipes, window frames, and countless others.”
According to the Metal Construction Association (MCA), roll forming is defined as: “A continuous bending operation in which a strip of metal, typically coiled steel or aluminum, is passed through consecutive sets of rolls, or stands, each performing only an incremental part of the bend until the desired cross-section profile is obtained. Portable roll forming is ideal for producing parts with long lengths or in large quantities and are designed so they can be moved easily to various locations or job sites.”
The history of roll forming is an interesting one. Dating back as early as 600 B.C., this archaic rollforming typically involved hammering ductile metals found in the earth, including copper and gold, with hard objects until they were flattened or formed into a shape. More advanced forms of rollforming developed over time with one of the earliest known designs of a more modern rollformer belonging to Leonardo da Vinci with a 1480 sketch of a “rolling mill” depicting a material passing through cylindrical rollers to be flattened. The first actual industrial rollforming/metal working plant on record launched in the early 1600s in the United Kingdom.
With over 25 years fabricating and producing portable metal roll forming equipment, New Tech Machinery knows the importance of education on how metal roll forming began and why it’s still so important to this day, especially if you work in the metal fabrication industry. If metal roll forming machinery didn’t exist, humans would have to put forth significant extra labor using press brakes, folders, and other equipment to make metal products. Instead, machines produce and roll thousands of pounds of metal per day significantly increasing productivity.
ROLL FORMING EDUCATION AVAILABLE AT METALCON 2019
If you’ve come to METALCON shows in the past, you know that it is more than just exhibits. Attendees have the opportunity to learn from key industry experts on important topics. At METALCON 2019, one of these topics includes a special two-part program on Roll Forming for the Metal Construction Industry.
The first of the two-part program will be held on Wednesday, October 16 from 8:30 am – 12:00 pm and led by the following industry experts: Ryan Durst, Vice President Sales & Marketing, The Bradbury Company and Joe Beck, President, Beck Automation, Brian Rodgers, Sr. Application Engineer, Formtek, Inc., Andy Allman, President, AMS Controls Inc., and Steve Ebel, President, Roll Form Solutions Inc. They will cover the following topics:Considerations for Metal Building Roll Formers, Utilizing Exiting Capital Equipment and Tooling, Improve Profitability & Competitiveness through Computer Integrated Manufacturing and Proper Roll Form Tooling Setup and Troubleshooting. For details on Part I, please click HERE.
The second of the two-part program will be held on Thursday, October 17 from 8:30 am – 12:00 pm and led by the following industry experts: Brian Rodgers, Sr. Applications Engineer, Formtek, Inc., Paul Williams, Director of Sales, Hill Engineering, and Chuck Summerhill, Technical Sales/Engineer, TEKFAB. The following topics will be covered: Material and How it Affects Metal Building Products in the Roll Forming Process, Creative Options for Punching/Shearing/Cutoff Challenges in the Metal Building Industry, Advanced Roll Forming of Steel Framing Components, and Automation and Material Handling for Roll Formed Products – Emphasizing Operator Safety, Labor Reduction & High-Speed Production. For details on Part II, click HERE.
Part I is Session Number: SP4 on Wednesday, October 16, 2019: 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM and Part II is Session Number: SP8 on Thursday, October 17, 2019: 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM; Cost is $160 for each part. REGISTER TODAY.
Magnificent Metal Monday hails the readers today by featuring Metal Construction News’ Readers’ Choice Awards for 2019. MCN comments, “In our sixth annual Readers’ Choice Awards, Metal Construction News readers identified four different roofing underlayments as their top products for the last year, and of those four, three were in the top six of overall products.
The list contains products ranging from metal roofing panels to insulated metal panels to chimney pots and caps. There were also a number of energy reduction products rising to the surface, including insulation materials and daylighting products that help reduce energy demands. But the bigger change in the 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards compared to previous years is the number of tools our readers were interested in. The Empire Level Manufacturing Co.’s TRUE Blue Squares took the top spot.
#2 goes to DAP Products for their Ultra Clear Sealant
For a product to be considered for the Readers’ Choice Awards, it must have been featured in the editorial coverage between the May 2018 and April 2019 issues of Metal Construction News. MCN tracks the leads generated by each product from their readers and ranks them according to the number of leads. Continue reading the full story for the full list of the 30 winners.
Many of these manufacturing companies will be exhibiting at METALCON 2019, October 16-18, 2019 in Pittsburgh. Check out the FLOOR PLAN for the largest event in North America dedicated to metal in design and construction and register today. On behalf of the METALCON team, congratulations to the winners of the 2019 Metal Construction News Readers’ Choice Awards.
CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR A SPECIAL BLOG REGISTRATION DISCOUNT. The promo code does not work for exhibitors, manufacturers, suppliers or distributor registration categories.
Magnificent Metal Monday travels to Pittsburgh, PA, the location of METALCON 2019, for a look at a unique three-story home built in one of the city’s dense urban neighborhoods. Designed by David W. Nitchkey, a principal at CORE Architects of Pittsburgh, he opted for the use of exposed fastener panels from McElroy Metal for the home’s exterior.
Nitchkey’s home appeared in a recent issue of DesignandBuildwithMetal.com as a “featured project.” Nitchkey explains, “My wife and I both wanted to live in a contemporary urban home, reflecting a modern design on both the exterior and the interior. We chose metal to create the contemporary industrial aesthetic of the exterior. Beyond aesthetics, the exposed fastener metal panel system provided an economical solution and the material is basically maintenance free. After maintaining a large 1950s era suburban home for 14 years, we were ready to spend less time on exterior maintenance and more time enjoying the benefits of living in a city neighborhood.” Part of their decision to use metal was also to pay homage to the city’s steeped history in steel and metal making.
The home measures 2,500 square feet on a narrow 20-foot by 60-foot lot. “As a designer, I looked at the exterior cladding as an exercise in graphic design,” Nitchkey says. “The dimensional profiles, direction of the panel patterns, panel sizes and seaming, and exposed fastener colors, all became part of the layers of the design. Conceptually, the first floor horizontal U-Panels in a Charcoal color, provide a dark base to ground the structure and create a platform to support the silver Galvalume volume of the second and third floors, clad in vertical U-Panels. To provide a visual interest, ‘the wedge’ utilizes horizontal Mega Rib panels in Regal White. The added depth of these panels contrasts nicely against the shallower U-Panels.
Abreez Contracting of Pittsburgh installed the McElroy panels: 1,140 square feet of U-Panels in Charcoal, 3,408 square feet of U-Panels in unfinished Galvalume, 360 square feet of Mega-Rib panels in Regal White and 162 square feet of Matrix soffit panels in unfinished Galvalume.
McElroy Metal markets metal roofing, siding, and substructural products for architectural, residential, commercial, and industrial applications. McElroy has 13 manufacturing facilities across the United States. You can visit McElroy Metals and see their latest product line in Booth #1740 at METALCON 2019.
A rendering of renovations for the CDER building in Champagne, France, featuring a green double facade. Courtesy of OuyOut/SAT Manager.
Magnificent Metal Monday travels to Champagne, France, where ancient history meets modern sustainability. Instead of tearing down and rebuilding, check out this “green renovation of a midcentury monstrosity.” As featured this week in Redshift by Autodesk, Aurélien Leriche, architect manager of Paris-based firm OuyOut, saw an opportunity to propose a green renovation for CDER, a management and accounting association, when they wanted to expand their offices in Épernay, the capital of Champagne.
METALCON 2019 is a “one-stop shop” for key training, education and one-on-one time with industry experts and exhibitors. It is a critical addition to any “punch list” for a roofing job. Recently featured in Metal Construction News, having a punch list is necessary in any metal roofing job whether it is a roof retrofit or new construction. The information that can be obtained at METALCON this year will give you the tools to complete a job accurately.
According to Danny Kerr, Co-Founder of Breakthrough Academy and METALCON guest speaker, “Summer is the time to produce, but your crew members may have other things on their mind.” In an article that appeared in the July issue of Metal Construction News, Danny explains, ” It’s the dead of summer. The days are as long as they are hot. You and your team are doing your darndest to keep up with an insanely busy production season.” He calls it the “midsummer stutter” … a name he uses to describe the nose dive in productivity that seems to plague teams in late June and July.
Metal Construction News announced MBCEA’s Building of the Year Awards for 2019 in their July issue. Top honors went to the BARNES Buildings and Management Group based in Weymouth, MA, for their Boston MedFlight Hangar 12A project. The awards were announced at MBCEA’s Annual Meeting that took place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina May 2-4.
Magnificent Metal Monday take us to London, England, where a 23-m-long and 10-m-high “Neuron Pod” has opened at the science learning center at Queen Mary University of London’s campus in the area of Whitechapel. The Guardian reports, “Standing like an intergalactic porcupine, covered with long glowing quills that sway gently in the breeze, it is a startling thing to encounter in this unremarkable corner of hospital buildings and curry houses.” The structure was built from 13 pieces of weathering steel that were welded together on site.
Last month, Metal Construction News announced the eight honorees who were inducted into the 2019 Metal Construction Hall of Fame. These honorees represent the breadth of the industry and showcase the innovation and excitement that the industry offers.
For the full story and details on each of the honorees, check out June’s digital issue of Metal Construction News (page 16). Metal Construction News is the original news magazine of the metal construction industry and is the premier source for news, products and strategies. Devoted to educating building systems contractors, general contractors, suppliers, manufacturers and more, each issue features project overviews, field techniques, and technical issues dealing with the metal construction industry. They have been a long standing partner publication to METALCON.
On behalf of the METALCON team, we congratulate all of the inductees on their well deserved honor and recognition for their years of service to the industry.
