Above: T-Mobile Arena, a 650,000-square-foot space, features metal panels manufactured by Centria and installed by Crown Corr Inc.

Wall systems must prevail over cold, heat and moisture while speaking volumes about what goes on within

March 2018 - An expert in architectural building systems has to work with property owners, architects, project contractors, installers and its own dealer network in a smooth fashion. The finished work has to tick off a bunch of boxes, including corrosion resistance, moisture and thermal barriers, structural integrity, durability and aesthetics. The aesthetics ideal would include color, fit and surface quality. No part of that is less important than the next.

Centria, based in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, has had 112 years to perfect its ability to meet and exceed customers’ expectations, and to develop increasingly advanced systems for wall and roof panels, rain screens and coating systems.

The company is hired for a variety of complex projects, from corporate headquarters and convention centers to hospitals and educational institutions, museums and libraries to government facilities and stadiums. And each one must, by necessity, be custom designed, manufactured and installed.

In the past couple years, Centria tackled work as varied as the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the business school at a major New England university, and a Texas food bank. Here are descriptions of five projects, including the drivers for choosing coated metal panels and how they were used.

The Pulichino Tong Business Center, part of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, was completed in April 2017.

U-Mass business school

The Pulichino Tong Business Center, part of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, was completed in April 2017.  Centria worked with Cambridge Seven Associates Inc. (the architect) and Sunrise Erectors Inc. (the installer).

The business center stands as the face of the North Campus Innovation District. The four-story building features an atrium, technology-enhanced classrooms, seminar rooms, faculty offices, a finance laboratory, meeting rooms and collaborative study areas.

The architect specified Centria’s family of Formawall Dimension Series 3 insulated panel systems to save money on heating and cooling costs and to curb energy waste. The panels have an all-in-one thermal, air, vapor and moisture barrier, and are certified as environmentally sound. The vertically installed panels integrate seamlessly with long rows of windows. Panels of increasing length create a diagonally rising façade.

Entertainment & sports

T-Mobile Arena, a 650,000-square-foot space designed by Populus (architect) and with metal panels manufactured by Centria and installed by Crown Corr Inc., features a giant mesh wall with a bright magenta 9,000-square-foot LED display. The LED board represents the city’s energy while the building’s metallic skin resembles the burnt golden hues of the desert.

With over 217,000 square feet of Centria products, including 136,000 square feet of MetalWrap Long Span Series backup panels, the facility required wall systems that could withstand high desert temperatures but also provide exciting aesthetics for the wide variety of events the facility hosts, from a Katy Perry concert to boxing matches and basketball tournaments. T-Mobile Arena will soon be the home of the Golden Knights, the NHL’s newest franchise.

The MetalWrap Long Span Series of insulated composite backup panels feature a single component that replaces typical multi-component assemblies used for complex backup walls. The MetalWrap system provides thermal, air, water and vapor barriers in a composite assembly to maintain a comfortable atmosphere.

MetalWrap backup panels include integral attachment systems, including rails, clips, pintles and masonry anchors where needed. The product can be specified for spans greater than 24 inches and can be installed both horizontally and vertically. The arena also includes 27,000 square feet of Centria’s EcoScreen perforated screenwalls, creating the mesh façade.

University Health Facility, Kansas City, Missouri, features angled windows and panels that match.

Medical center

Centria worked with CannonDesign (architect) and Cornell Roofing & Sheet Co. (installer) to complete Truman Medical Centers’ University Health Facility in Kansas City, Missouri. The four-story, 90,000-square-foot building houses multiple medical disciplines, 50 doctors, an outpatient surgical clinic and various other medical amenities.

CannonDesign specified Formawall Dimension Series exterior insulated metal panels so it could shape window space into sharp acute angles in grid patterns. Energy-saving features had to be delivered at a reasonable cost. The durability and energy efficiency of the building is amplified by the Fluorofinish coating, resisting fade effects from strong precipitation and debris.

West Texas Food Bank in Odessa.

Food distribution

The West Texas Food Bank in Odessa was designed by Parkhill Smith & Cooper (architects) and Centria manufactured its Cascade CC-260 paneling with MicroSeam corners; and Profile IW Series concealed fasteners for the project. The coating is Fluorofinish,

The West Texas Food Bank has served as a primary food distributor for needy families for over 30 years—it is the largest collaborative nonprofit agency in the Permian Basin. The new 60,000-square-foot facility is both functional for storage and a safe haven for the hungry.

Centria’s seamless Cascade panels integrate with consecutive windows, providing the building with an unbroken, contemporary aesthetic that allows sunlight to filter in and grants natural lighting to the interior. MicroSeam corners provide the facility with a continuous visual that gives it a unified appearance. The panels have a smooth finish with pearlescent sheen to the color. The fastener panels help to canopy the windows.

Turbomachinery plant

Woodward, which develops and builds high-tech electrical controllers for aerospace, defense, power generation, heavy engines and power plants, tapped Ghafari Associates (architect) to design a $200 million, 363,000-square-foot manufacturing complex in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Centria supplied its Formawall Dimension Series 3 family of products plus an EcoScreen for the plant, which builds turbomachinery systems. The facility required natural light, patios and balconies overlooking the Poudre River. Silver, pewter and dark bronze finishes with smooth and striated surfaces provide a warm, earthy flavor to a modern façade.

EcoScreen Econolap perforated screenwalls blend the buildings with the natural world. The sturdy, weather-resistant material of the wall panels deliver thermal efficiency and moisture control in a single panelized component that stands up to Colorado winters.

Centria’s Fluorofinish metal coating system enhances the longevity of the surfaces.

Company history

Centria’s predecessor, H.H. Robertson, opened in 1906 as a maker of corrosion-resistant metal wall and roof panels. By 1922, that company expanded to England. H.H. Robertson merges with The E.G. Smith Co. in Emsworth, Pennsylvania, in 1935, and in 1958 creates a division, Steelite, to fabricate light-gauge steel trusses. The company quickly adds corrugated metal panels and over time, acquired six corrugating mills and a sheet metal fabrication shop. The group coalesced as Centria in 1996.

The company’s Coating Services division paints, slits and embosses virtually all substrates—using virtually all coating systems—at two plants in Pennsylvania and one in Ohio. MM