Stainless steel for Roofing

Stainless Steel for roofing
Museums and Galleries
Museum, Henley-on-Thames, England
Client: River and Rowing Foundation, Henley-on-Thames
Architects: David Chipperfield Architects, London
The design for this museum of rowing, local history and the River Thames, adopts and reinterprets elements from local architectural traditions seen in barns and boathouses.
The extensive use of concrete, wood, glass and stainless steel underlines the clear, simple forms of the museum buildings – two volumes, one set back slightly from the other, linked by a long connecting bridge. The generously glazed area on the ground floor houses the reception and public spaces while the exhibits are contained in the closed, introverted parts of the buildings.

The steeply pitched roofs finished in tin-plated stainless steel butt flush with the gable ends. At the eaves, too, the roof surface seems to flow seamlessly into the timber-clad façade, thanks to the concealed guttering.

Arts Centre, Salford, England
Client: The Lowry Trust, Salford
Architects: Michael Wilford and Partners, London
This centre for the visual and performing arts is located in a prominent position at the end of a pier in the rapidly developing area of Salford Quays. The complex of buildings, which itself looks like a giant sculpture of stainless steel and glass, contains two theatres, galleries, bars, cafés and a restaurant.

As diverse as the geometry of the buildings themselves is the range of stainless steel alloys, surfaces and fixing techniques used on the façades and roofs. Matt-rolled steel (grade: EN 1.4401) was used for the standing-seam pitched roofs, while self-supporting panels of high-strength grade Duplex EN 1.4362 were used for the flat surfaces.

Education and Research Establishments
School Canteen, Oyonnax, France
Client: Commune d’Oyonnax
Architect: Philippe Rebourg, Oyonnax
The new extension to the school contains four dining halls plus kitchen and school medical facilities. A large arched roof with a radius of 21 m spans about two-thirds of the almost 19-m wide building. It is a ventilated roof with a substructure of glued-laminated purlins and rafters. An opening on the upper part of the long side illuminates the central hallway. Solar-shading louvres are fitted to this opening.

The cantilevered roof is fitted with 0.5 mm matt-grey stainless steel sheet. The guttering, also in stainless steel, lies concealed behind the rounded eaves. By cladding the verge and eaves, and also the underside of the roof overhang with plain or perforated stainless steel sheet, the thickness of the roof construction can be clearly seen.

Universum® Science Centre, Bremen, Germany
Client: Stiftung Universum GmbH, Bremen
Architect: Thomas Klumpp, Bremen
Rising out of the water like a giant fish is the curved shape of the new Universum® Science Centre of the University of Bremen, used for science presentations and exhibitions. Located at the entrance to the university campus as part of a conference complex, the centre’s distinctive, expressive form marks it out as a building for special purposes.

The scale-like skin of the building, gleaming in silvery stainless steel, enhances the association with a fish. Some 35,000 stainless steel shingles make up the roofing, laid on
a substructure of glued-laminated timber, sandwich elements and waterproof membrane. Each shingle, a rhomboid measuring 40 x 40 cm, is bent to shape on two sides and screwed at four points. Stainless steel stays give added security. The stainless steel 'scales' were made in left-hand and right-hand versions, to fit the two sides of the 'fish'. This was necessary to maintain even colour effects along each side, as the fine satin finish reflected differently when the shingles were turned around. Above a pitch of 17° – not visible from the ground – the shingle covering is replaced by stainless steel standing-seam roofing. Rainwater is fed into the lake around the building, via the lower lip of the fish’s mouth.

Centre for the Handicapped, Montbard, France
Client: Mutualité de la Côte d’Or, Dijon
Architect: François Brandon, Dijon
The shape and design of this centre is oriented towards the needs of its users – handicapped children. A truncated cone-shaped structure containing the reception area and offices marks the centre of the complex. Light enters here through the roof-light in the angled ‘cut surface’ of the cone. Generously glazed corridors and ancillary zones curve out from this central zone in a semi-circle, facing outwards or onto the garden patio inside.
The inward- and outward-tilting shed roofs, the parapet zone and the entrance cone are all finished with standing-seam roofing or cladding in matt-grey stainless steel.

Library of the Faculty of Law, Cambridge University, England
Client: University of Cambridge, Cambridge
Architects: Foster and Partners, London
The new library building for the university’s Faculty of Law was built in the midst of lawns and mature trees on the Sidgwick Campus. The rectangular plan is cut on the diagonal, in response to the natural setting and the pedestrian routes across the site. To minimise the building’s size in relation to neighbouring buildings, the large lecture theatres were built below ground level. Above them are four terraced floors, containing common rooms, seminar rooms and a three-floor library. The steel-framed roof spans 35 m across the building. The glazed north-facing façade continues in an unbroken curve into the highly insulated, seam-welded stainless steel roof.

Secondary School, Mössingen, Germany
Client: Mössingen local authority
Architects: Denzer + Jaschke, Fellbach
The new two-floor extension to Mössingen grammar school, which was built in the 1970s, contains 23 classrooms, a music room and an assembly hall. The triangular geometry of the new structure blends well with the existing buildings, yet retains its own distinctive identity.
The flat roof, supported by steel girders and a combination of steel and wooden purlins, cantilevers out far beyond the tips of the triangle. The upper surface of this non-ventilated flat roof is finished with seam-welded stainless steel.

Perfectly waterproof, this layer is an ideal base for the extensive roof greening which holds back much of the water when it rains. Planting the stainless steel roof also has the advantage that no special stays or additional live load were necessary for mechanical protection against wind suction. Furthermore, it stops any loud drumming noise from rain on the roof and helps prevent the classrooms becoming overheated in summer.

Churches
Lutheran Church, Holzkirchen, Germany
Client: Evang.-Luth. Kirchengemeinde, Holzkirchen
Architects: Lichtblau + Bauer + Lichtblau, Munich
This twelve-sided wooden structure is the new focal point of the parish centre. The friendly, inviting atmosphere of the church comes from the exploitation of natural daylight, a high degree of transparency and, not least, from the choice of materials. Wood and glass predominate in the central main hall and in the ancillary rooms encircling it. Tin-plated stainless steel was used on the roof, as it both reduces the depth of the roof construction and lends a touch of lightness to the building when combined as it is here with continuous-strip windows below the variously sloping roofs. The 0.5 mm stainless steel roofing sheet is used as parallel or tapering strips joined with a double-lock standing seam.

Roman Catholic Church, Vienna, Austria
Client: Archdiocese of Vienna
Architect: Heinz Tesar, Vienna
This church is situated in the midst of high-rises on the edge of the new ‘Donaucity’ urban district of Vienna. Square in plan, with notched corners, the building hints at the shape of a cross, the geometry being emphasised further by the flat expanses of cladding on roof and façades. Black, electrolytically coloured stainless steel was chosen for the cladding.
Interestingly the roof is designed to be a kind of ‘fifth façade’ when viewed from the
many high-rise buildings which overlook it. It is built up of 4 mm stainless steel panels, 1338 x 660 mm in size, separated by coated spacers and laid on 100 mm concrete slabs set in a bed of gravel. Rainwater runs through the open joints between the panels into the gravel, where it is directed into a centrally located downpipe.

Residential Builings
House, Reinach, Switzerland
Client: Thomas Nichele, Reinach
Architect: Markus Lussmann, Dornach
This unusually-shaped house is built on a steep slope that was once part of a vineyard. In constructing the house, use was made of an old floor slab on the site that had belonged to an older house now swept away by a landslide.

The new building is timber-framed, and follows the line of a high retaining wall on the upper side of the plot. A barrel-vaulted roof spans the linear volume, the line of the eaves tracing the diagonal of the ground plan. This curve not only creates interesting internal spaces, but also an unusual roof shape. The cladding for the 150-m2 roof is 0.5 mm, matt-rolled standing-seam stainless steel sheet.

Twin Houses, Bildstein, Austria
Client: Christian Lässer, Lustenau
Architects: fab-02 klas & lässer, Lustenau
High on a hill overlooking the town lie these two houses, turned very slightly towards each other. Together, yet separate, they are distinctive for their clear, modern form and their use of the contrasting materials of wood, glass and stainless steel.

The wooden cubes are oriented towards the south-west, on which façade they are extensively glazed. Above the cubes, and slightly raised on the valley side, are the roofs. On each house, the roof and back wall form a single unit, like a shield protecting against the slope. Only a few small windows pierce the rear façade, which, like the roof, is clad with standing-seam stainless steel sheet in a matt finish.

Ekonologia House, Malmö, Sweden
Client: Midroc Construction AB, Helsingborg
Architects: SWECO FFNS Arkitekter, Helsingborg
This house, the Swedish contribution to the European Village north of Malmö, had to meet strict requirements: all systems and materials had to have a life span greater than 50 years, maintenance should be minimal, recyclable materials were to be used, but no adhesives, sealing compounds or surface coatings, and it had to be energy-efficient. The resulting structure is a modern, three-storey house in lightweight construction, providing 180 m2
of generously glazed accommodation space, terraces and balconies.

Stainless steel was chosen for the roofing for two reasons: maintenance is trouble-free in the aggressive, maritime environment and the material can be recycled.

Apartment Blocks, Bad Reichenhall, Germany
Client: Bayerische Ärzteversorgung, Munich
Planning/Roof renovation: Rudolf Schmid GmbH, Großkarolinenfeld
The roofs of these two apartment blocks, built in the late 1960s, were clad with stainless steel as part of a general refurbishment programme.

An extra layer of fibrous material and insulation were placed on the old bitumen roof and then the 640 mm wide strips of 0.5 mm bright-rolled stainless steel sheet (grade: EN 1.4436) were laid on top. This saved the expense of removing and disposing of the old roofing. The seam-welded stainless steel sheeting is guaranteed waterproof and has high durability. Gravel and additional stones as live load were added, to protect the new roof against mechanical stress.

Sports Facilities
Cycling Stadium and Swimming Baths, Berlin, Germany
Client: OSB Sportstättenbau, Berlin
Architects: Dominique Perrault, Paris
Reichert, Pranschke, Maluche, Munich
Schmidt-Schicketanz & Partner, Munich
Thanks to a newly developed stainless steel mesh, the roofs of these two sports halls look like shimmering lakes, set in an urban park landscaped with 450 apple trees. The buildings are sunk 17 metres into the ground, and rise only about one metre above it. A belt of stairs, ramps and corridors surrounds the perimeter of each hall.

In line with their functions, one hall is a circular structure, the other a rectangle. The column-free interior of each hall is spanned by a giant steel roof frame with girders up to 4.50 metres deep. The entire roof structure, and the façade area, which corresponds to the roof depth, is clad with stainless steel mesh. The mesh mats rest on a substructure of height-adjustable metal frame elements. No additional fastening to the roof frame was necessary, due to the relatively high bearing weight of the panels. The rods of the mesh itself and the junctions between the panels can support foot traffic for maintenance purposes.

Sports Centre and Swimming Baths, Ilanz, Switzerland
Client: Town of Ilanz
Architect: Curschellas & Gasser, Ilanz
An extensive refurbishment programme for a sports centre with swimming pool dating from 1968 involved constructing one new building, modernising the pools and installing a new, ecologically compatible heating system. The answer to meeting the energy needs was a thermal solar system with collectors made of stainless steel which were fitted to the roof of the building housing the changing rooms and technical installations. Thanks to a special, selective coating the collector sheets need no cover glass, and achieve over 80% efficiency. The absorber modules, covering 453 m2, supply 95% of the centre’s energy needs for heating and warm water. This design thus combines the advantages of a weather-resistant, low-maintenance stainless steel roof, with those of a high-quality solar collector.

Water Sports Centre, Gérardmer, France
Client: Town of Gérardmer
Architect: François Lausecker, Gérardmer
The two-storey central section of the water sports centre noses towards the lake shore like the prow of a ship. At street level are the offices and a large common room, and at lake level, changing rooms, sanitary installations and storage areas. The sports equipment belonging to the diving, sailing and kayak clubs are kept in the side wings, where there is also space to carry out repair and maintenance work.

With its timber frame and façades the building blends well with the wooded slopes around the lake. The roof surfaces, set at different heights, curve alternately towards the lake and away from it, injecting movement into the structure, and echoing the local topography. In order to keep the appearance of the roof surfaces as homogeneous as possible, matt-rolled stainless steel was chosen for the roofing sheet.

Events and Catering Facilities
Multi-purpose Hall, Mons, Belgium
Client: Dexia Banque, Brussels
Architect: beg, Bureau d’études Greisch, Liège
Twenty-two reinforced concrete arches, spanning 63 m and reaching 21 m at the apex, make up the support frame for this hall. Each arch is made up of five prefabricated components, assembled on site. The column-free, 10,450 m2 hall area is used for exhibitions, trade fairs, cultural and sporting events. Provision is made for dividing the internal space into three, enabling parts of the hall and its infrastructure to be used separately.

The basement is used as storage space for the national archives, and therefore the whole building had to meet strict requirements in terms of lasting water-tightness. This also guided the choice of stainless steel for the roofing and gable cladding. A further design aspect was the slightly reflecting surface of the steel.

Events Centre, St. Anton, Austria
Clients: Arlberger Bergbahnen AG; St. Anton am Arlberg local authority and tourist association
Architects: Dietrich/Untertrifaller, Bregenz
Originally built as the media centre for the 2001 World Skiing Championships, this complex has now been turned into a ‘centre for wellness and communication’. Its 2000-m2 main hall, easy to adapt for a range of functions, a large sports and wellness area, plus swimming pool, saunas, a restaurant and bars, make this an ideal venue for all kinds of events.
Half of the building’s 48,000 m3 of volume is buried into the slope. Towards the town, the centre presents an open, transparent aspect in the shape of a glazed, two-storey entrance façade. But seen from the hills above, it looks like a sculpted part of the landscape: all that is visible is the support structure for the hall roof – five prestressed reinforced-concrete box girders clad with matt stainless steel – and three smaller structures rising out of the extensively greened roof surface.

Restaurant, London, England
Client: Belgo Group PLC., London
Architects: foreign office architects, London
Squeezed tightly between two brick buildings either side, the street front to this Belgian beer hall and restaurant is just three metres wide. Diners walk along a 15-m long corridor to reach the rows of wooden tables in the main hall.

The space in the dining hall is spanned by four barrel vaults, each higher than the one before. The resulting steps where the vaults meet are glazed to create roof-lights, thus creating an exciting spatial effect in the hall. The vaults are steel arches with wooden purlins and thermal insulation in between. Resting on this support structure are a breather membrane, a layer of plywood sheeting with plastic spacers, and geotextile underlay. The outer skin is 0.4 mm standing-seam stainless steel sheet.

Motorway Services Station, near Leipheim, Germany
Client: TANK & RAST GmbH, Munich
Architects: Albrecht & Partner, Munich
The visitor-friendly design of the open spaces and the interplay between the tiered building volumes, of services area and motel, plus a spacious, clear layout inside, make this motorway services station a popular and pleasant stopping place. The combination of various materials, such as wood, metal and rendering, also adds to the overall appeal.
The roofs of the motel, and all roof overhangs, parapets and canopies are clad in tin-plated standing-seam stainless steel sheet. A key factor in the choice of this roofing was its resistance to the atmospheric conditions found close to the motorways, where, in winter in particular, the air is very humid and high in atmospheric pollutants.

Administration and Commercial Buildings
Administration Centre, Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany
Client: Sparkasse Fürstenfeldbruck
Architects: Werkraum Architekten, Fürstenfeldbruck
Located on the edge of town, the new administration centre of a local savings bank consists of six, four-storey office buildings arranged in parallel and all linked down one side by a three-storey communications tract with extensively greened flat roofs.

The ventilated flat roofs of the office buildings reflect the internal spatial arrangement. On both long sides, above the offices, is a shed roof, which is inclined towards the centre. Skylights and vertical, glazed openings, which also serve as smoke outlets, are integrated in the roof surfaces above the communal areas and communication zones. Tin-plated stainless steel sheet was used to clad the roof frame of timber and steel. Cellulose was blown into the ventilated flat roof as insulation.

Dairy, Rosenheim, Germany
Client: Danone GmbH, Rosenheim
Planning/Roof renovation:
Rudolf Schmid GmbH, Großkarolinenfeld

When putting a new roof on a production hall at this large dairy products factory, the obvious choice of roofing material was seam-welded stainless steel sheet. One benefit of this material is that it creates a weather-resistant, absolutely waterproof roof surface which can be flooded for cleaning purposes, thereby reducing the risk of bacteria build-up. Also the smooth, bright-rolled surface reflects heat back into the atmosphere, preventing overheating in the refrigerated hall and thus reducing overall energy consumption. The total roof area to be replaced was 2000 m2. The roofing material used was 0.4 mm stainless steel sheet (grade:
EN 1.4436).

Freight Centre, Liège, Belgium
Client: Galliker Transport AG, Altishofen, Switzerland
Architects: Atelier d’Architecture Gauthoye-Berhaut, Embourg
This group of three variously sized buildings displays a harmonious blend of shapes and materials: rigorously geometric volumes with shallow pitched roofs and skylight strips; façades of reddish exposed concrete with wide expanses of glass; and roofing of stainless steel. The roofs of the two large halls – a maintenance hall for trucks and a warehouse – have a substructure of hollow concrete or painted trapezoid-section sheet on IPE 500 steel sections with 50 mm insulation. The roofing and the cladding on the gables is 0.7 mm stainless steel profiled sheet (grade: EN 1.4301).

Factory Building, Türkenfeld, Germany
Client: EMW Rohrformtechnik, Türkenfeld
Architects: werkstatt für architektur und gestaltung, Wolfratshausen
Expansion possibilities for this medium-sized metal-processing company were limited in the town centre, so it moved out to a new business district on the edge of town and built a new factory. The ensemble consists of three structures: a warehouse, a factory building and a combined office and residential block.

The 1200 m2 factory building links the taller volumes of the warehouse on one side and the three-storey office section on the other. The roof of the factory hall is a timber folded-plate support structure, covered with tin-plated 0.5 mm stainless steel sheet. The resulting column-free work space below is lit by natural daylight from the glazed gable ends and roof-lights. Maximum reflection is ensured by also cladding the south-facing shed roof with stainless steel sheet and using light-coloured wood on the undersides of the roof.

Industrial Structures
Water-Storage Tanks, Kortrijk-Bellegem, Belgium
Client: VMW, Brussels
Architect: Ortwin Deroo, Brussels
The domed roofs of the two water-storage tanks blend well with the surrounding undulating landscape. Each tank has a capacity of 10,000 m3 and is 50 m in diameter. The free-spanning roofs are of reinforced concrete, just 8 to 12 cm thick, resting on pretensioned r.c. beams which in turn bear on columns around the outer walls.

The roof construction is made up of 6 cm foam glass thermal insulation, which like the claw plates for fixing the sliding cleats is bonded with hot bitumen. The roof skin is 0.4 mm stainless steel (grade: EN 1.4404), and is continuously seam-welded. As well as providing better resistance against wind loads, this type of roof construction has the added advantage of low weight.


 PDF: Stainless steel for Roofing