Combination of corrugated, composite metal panels creates high-tech façade

The new Patuxent River Naval Air Museum in Lexington Park, Md., preserves and interprets the Patuxent River Naval Air Base’s history and heritage of advancing U.S. Naval aviation technology. The 22,000-sq.-ft. museum is the repository of artifacts, photographs, documents and related heritage memorabilia from Patuxent River and other naval stations. The facility is dedicated to those who have employed their talents in advancing naval aviation research, development, testing and evaluation.

The design for the facility, created by Westlake Reed Leskosky in Washington, D.C., reflects the technological focus of the museum with a contemporary yet uncomplicated palette of materials. Approximately 11,700 sq. ft. of Petersen’s 7/8-in. Corrugated Panels interface with aluminum composite material (ACM) to present a high-tech façade.

The 24 gauge PAC-CLAD panels were finished in custom color Cadet Grey to match the ACM.

“We’ve become more aggressive in pursuing custom colors on smaller jobs,” said Kevin Riordan, regional manager at Petersen’s Annapolis Junction, Md., plant. “We can now provide cost-effective custom colors in lower quantities.”

Corrugated panels have emerged as an important architectural design element over the past decade. “The use of multiple textures is a common design trend,” Riordan said. “On this project, ACM was the design anchor with the corrugated playing an important complementary role.”

The general contractor on the project was Biscayne Construction in Alexandria, Va.