Metal roof design defines spaces within Delaware police station
New law enforcement facilities present significant programmatic requirements because of the multiple functions these buildings must serve. In many ways, they’re actually several buildings contained within the same four (or more) walls. Architects often use their roofing designs to illustrate this multipurpose nature – and that’s just the strategy employed in a new headquarters for one Delaware State Police troop. In this case, an architectural metal panel system installed in varied angles and orientations provides visual cues to the many services housed below.
Delaware State Police Troop 7 had outgrown its existing early-1980s structure in the state’s eastern Sussex County. Additionally, travel to surrounding beach resort communities had become so bad on the major artery where it was located that it had earned that highway a failing grade from the state for traffic congestion. A new site was located with better access and room to expand.
Designers with the Salisbury, Md., office of the Becker Morgan Group made sure the new 25,300-sq.-ft. headquarters, along with a separate 7,300-sq.-ft. vehicle maintenance and evidence storage building, incorporated space for both current and projected needs, including operations, administrative offices, a holding area and community meeting space.
For the roof, the building team turned to Petersen’s Tite-Loc Plus standing seam panels, specifying 28,000 sq. ft. of the material in 24-gauge steel and in a PAC-CLAD Weathered Zinc finish. These panels combine structural performance with architectural aesthetics to create a roof that performs as well as it looks. An additional 3,000 sq. ft. of Petersen’s 7-in., 24-gauge Flush Soffit panel system – also in Weathered Zinc – also were part of the spec.
Installers with Newark, Del.-based CTA Roofing and Waterproofing were tasked with bringing the design to life. Their work creating the transitions between the perpendicular Tite-Loc panel junctions helped maintain the clean, crisp look initiated by Becker Morgan Group’s architects.
