Metal roof panels combine modern and traditional design for Florida church
The church serving the Catholic parish of Saints Peter and Paul the Apostles in Bradenton, Fla., must have seemed to be quite a modern-looking place of worship when it opened its doors in 1989. This was one of the first new churches constructed after the 1984 founding of the Diocese of Venice, Fla., which drew on parts of the Archdiocese of Miami, and the Dioceses of St. Petersburg and Orlando.
Now, the 30-year-old building is an established member of the community and recently hit the age when church leaders recognized a need for re-roofing. Like other elements of the facility’s architecture, the new metal roof pays homage to traditional building materials in a thoroughly present-day presentation.
Though the interior of the church features a traditional layout with the alter at one end, the building looks circular from the outside. This includes the roof, which radiates out and down in triangular segments from a central cupola-like structure supporting a prominent cross. The standing seams of the metal panels used for the main roof and that of the protruding entry way emphasize the design’s many angles.
Of course, metal isn’t a new material in church architecture – zinc and copper often have added status to significant churches and cathedrals. In this case, though, the material is aluminum, with a copper finish that won’t patina with age. Installing contractor Crowther Roofing and Sheet Metal installed 40,000 sq. ft. of Petersen’s Snap-Clad panels for the more steeply sloped portions of the roof and 3,000 sq. ft. of the company’s PAC-150 panels for a low-sloped area not easily seen from the street. All the panels feature a Copper Penny finish and are fabricated from .032-gauge aluminum to stand up to the salt spray the coastal region can face. Panels were supplied by ABC Supply in Fort Myers, Fla.
This is the second building on the church’s campus to feature Petersen panels. Another structure of similar size was reroofed in 2017 using Snap-Clad products.
