Metal wall panels plant contemporary style on U of TN campus
The University of Tennessee’s Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) was founded in 1969 to bring together academic, research and statewide extension programs, along with the College of Veterinary Medicine. The institute has seen significant new investment in its programs over the past five years, including the construction of the new 157,000-sq.-ft. Energy and Environmental Science Research Building (EESRB). Housing laboratories for teaching, research and public service, along with UTIA offices and classrooms, the EESRB also includes public spaces, like a 500-seat auditorium and a food service venue.
For the exterior cladding, architects with the local firm of Barber McMurry combined old-school masonry and stone with more contemporary architectural metal wall panels. The panels help break up expanses of brick and stone, emphasizing corners and creating a design element of the rooftop mechanical enclosure.
The designers, along with installers from Snellville, Ga.-based SECO Architectural Systems, Inc., specified Box Rib panels in two profiles from Petersen Aluminum’s Precision Series for the project. The installation effort was anything but standard as the panels were required to wrap around corners in a mix-and-match fashion to create a varied pattern climbing up the exterior.
Petersen, a Carlisle company, manufactures PAC-CLAD architectural metal cladding systems in multiple gauges of steel and aluminum. PAC-CLAD products include wall, roof and soffit panel systems, coil, flat sheet, composite panels, column covers, fascia, coping plus perforated metal. All are available with a Kynar-based 70% PVDF Fluropon coating in a wide spectrum of standard colors that include a 35-year finish warranty. Most colors meet LEED requirements and are rated by the Cool Roof Rating Council. Custom colors and weathertightness warranties are offered. BIM and CAD documents are available for most products. Petersen was founded in 1965. For information on the complete line of Petersen’s PAC-CLAD metal products call 800-PAC-CLAD, visit pac-clad.com or write to info@pac-clad.com.
