Copper in Architecture Awards

Canadian War Museum
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

The new Canadian War Museum is one of Canada’s most significant and striking museums. It is the first major building on a formerly abandoned section of downtown Ottawa, LaBreton Flats. Perhaps most strikingly is its physical form, utilizing only concrete, soil, and vegetation and, of course, copper to physically manifest the theme of regeneration. It is evocative of the physical act of war and the horror and devastation that are its main components, but it also illustrates nature’s ability to regenerate and sooth the wounds that war opens.

The use of copper, both inside and out, was a choice that reflected this. Copper is a key element in contextualizing the Museum, allowing a contemporary reading of a material that is very much intertwined with Ottawa’s and the Federal Government’s architecture. As well, the copper was a key component of the overall green strategy for the Museum. As well as using copper sheet that had been removed from the Parliament Buildings during their restoration on the interior, copper was chosen as a cladding material partly because of its exceptionally high recycled content.

The architects of the project (Moriyama & Teshima Architects and Griffith Rankin Cook Architects in joint venture) as well as the installer of the copper roof and cladding (Flynn Canada, Ltd.) have created a masterpiece of copper architecture, one that has already become a landmark among many others in Ottawa. Their work will now age over the years to the magnificent greenish-blue colour associated with mature copper. It will be another step in the evolution of the War Museum.

Architect

Architect

Library of Parliament
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

As part of the ongoing renovation projects on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, a major component was recently completed with the total rehabilitation and upgrade of the Library of Parliament. The magnificent structure first opened in 1877 after 18 years of construction. The original design by Thomas Fuller and Chilion Jones was based on the style of an English Gothic Chapter House and the Reading Room at the British Museum.

One of the most prominent features of the structure is its magnificent copper roof. In fact the old copper sheet removed from the roof was not recycled as is normally the case with aged copper. Instead a significant portion of the copper was fabricated into panels that now
grace the interior of the new Canadian War Museum, another Award winner.

The roofing contractor for the project was Heather & Little Limited, a firm with a wealth of experience on some of Ottawa’s and Canada’s most notable historic projects, including the Centre Block on Parliament Hill. In recent years, their work has spread to various American cities, including New York, Washington, Atlanta, San Francisco and elsewhere.

The rehabilitation work is intended to give the Library an extended life span of 50 additional years, and many of the changes (both to the exterior and the interior, as well as the mechanical and electrical systems) reflect that goal. Since a properly designed and installed copper roof should last upwards of 100 years or more, the next time the Library needs a facelift, the copper should still be performing as intended. It will feature the beautiful natural patina that one associates with the copper roofs on Parliament Hill in the nation’s capital.

Architect

Architect

Architect

La Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal
Montréal, Québec, Canada

As any visitor to Montreal will attest, Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal is one of that City’s most notable landmarks, dominating the Place d’Armes with its boxy façade and twin bell towers. The huge cathedral, seating up to 9,000 worshippers, was designed by American architect James O’Donnell who was based in New York. Due to its immense size (at the time it was  the largest religious structure in North America) the wardens of the church felt that only an American or European architect would be suitable. Construction began in 1824, and the towers were completed by John Ostell in 1841, after O’Donnell’s death. 

Perhaps best known for its extremely ornate and colourful interior (featuring hues of blue, gold, silver, red and purple), the  Basilica has been the subject of numerous additions and renovations over many decades. Built in a Gothic Revival style, the church features many Gothic  details and an expansive copper roof. The roof was considered an engineering masterpiece when originally built and covered in 1827.

In the latest restoration, this roof was replaced with a new batten seam copper roof by Les couvertures St-Léonard. The architect for the project was the firm Faucher Aubertin Brodeur Gauthier of Montreal. Both firms have extensive experience in installations of this nature, as is evidenced by this Award winning project.

The restoration addressed some notable details, such as the flat seam cladding used for sides of the large dormers and the detailed counter-flashings that were required between the stonework and the roof. Also unique to this project is the way that the roof steps down into three segments, essentially three separate roofs. Another feature is the series of skylights that run along the 240-foot (73 m) ridge of the Basilica. On the 80-foot (24 m) sloped sections, the copper was installed using 8-foot (2.4 m) long pans, 18 inches (450 mm) wide.

Architect

The Plaza Hotel
New York, New York

One of the most grand and renowned of New York City’s historical landmarks, the Plaza Hotel recently celebrated its 100th birthday. Designed in the French Renaissance style, this massive 18-story white brick and marble structure is a stunning example of American hotel architecture.

Renovation of the hotel’s roof, which features more than 130 dormers, continuous roll ridges, finials, ornamental bandwork, wall cladding and both flat and standing seam systems, required the collaborative efforts of two roofing contractors: Nicholson & Galloway and Eagle One Roofing. Nicholson & Galloway, a prominent firm specializing in sheet metal restoration work, completed the installation of the two building wings. Eagle One Roofing, a top Manhattan firm, completed the 5th Avenue façade along with the turrets at the northeast and southeast corners.

“The major challenge was to come up with a solution that respected the historic proportions of the building while conforming to current wind and fire codes, explains architect Charles Wall of James Gainfort Consulting Architects, the roofing and waterproofing consultant on the project. To address that issue, six full-size mock-ups were constructed to ensure the design would be both waterproof and structurally sound before the contractors could begin production. While Nicholson & Galloway and Eagle One fabricated many components in their shops, Heather and Little, a Canadian firm specializing in architectural sheet metal fabrication provided some dormers for the project.

Adding to the opulent design of the building is an impressive amount of custom-order Ludawici tile, which provides a perfect complement to the building’s copper features. In addition to housing a hotel, the building contains condominiums for extended-stay owners. To visitor’s delight, the ground floor and sub-grade levels offer retail shopping.

Costas Kondylis, the Architect-of-Record, is based in New York City. David Abramson was the Restoration Architect and Tischman was the General Contractor for the Plaza Hotel Restoration.

Consulting Architect

Sheet Metal Contractor

Sheet Metal Contractor

Other

Inverted Outbuilding
Lake George, New York

Nestled among Douglas fir trees in Lake George, New York, rests a sleek, yet rustic copper gem of a structure.  What began as a barn-building project resulted in a magnificent blend of utility and beauty that welcomes guests. The ultra-modern 5,600-square-foot guest house features rugged, yet elegant copper cladding and flat roofs. The third in a series of projects by New York City firm, Peter L. Gluck & Partners, the outstanding structure meshes the outdoors with the indoors through a wonderful blend of materials. Corrugated-copper walls in these entry/stair halls bring the exterior’s dominant material inside, creating a warm glow when the sun hits them. The architect’s use of contrasting materials, that included copper, wood and glass, created a dramatic design impact that was admittedly more contemporary than the homeowner’s traditional architectural style.

Architect

Stuckeman Family Building
Penn State University, School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture
State College, Pennsylvania

When given the opportunity to construct a new building to bring Penn State’s schools of Architecture and Landscape Architecture together, both of which had been teaching sustainability for a number of years, the designers set out with the objective of matching the design with a number of the school’s values and teaching principles.  From the recycled-copper cladding, which covers the majority of the building’s exterior, to the extensive use of glass, to remove the division between the inside and outside worlds, their success is apparent.

Throughout the project, copper was considered the clear choice of material for many reasons: its recycled content; local availability; high rate of recyclability at the end-of-life cycle; low or non-existent maintenance costs; and, superior durability.  Further, as this project called for a much sculpted exterior which fit with its more traditional surroundings copper proved to be the ideal material with which to work.

The cladding used traditional flat seam techniques to tie the building into its more traditional surroundings and older campus buildings situated close to it. The design flexibility achieved with copper allowed the designers to use the amount of glazing desired while minimizing the glare which can often accompany it, by manipulating the copper to create vertical and horizontal sun shading. The shading minimizes glare and also reduces temperature variation within the building.  The designer, Joe Nagy of WTW Architects, commented on how due in part to the complexity of the project, they had concerns about effectively bringing all of the different envelop elements together as planned.  To help address this they went so far as to build a 20x15 foot mock-up of the envelope and called on R. H. Marcon Roofing to conduct the installation of the copper cladding on the mock-up. Although they had limited experience, at the time, in cladding and were a relatively small firm Marcon showed a real commitment to the project and its design, working with the designers to achieve their vision.  This effort paid off with both the final product and Mr. Nagy referring to them as “one of the best contractors they have ever worked with.”

Architect

Architect

Copper Falls
Western Pennsylvania

This hilly woodlands site outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was chosen for its seclusion, natural beauty, and prominent views of a winding vale and nature reserve. Envisioned as a place of nature, of progression, and of intimate spaces, this wonderful residence creates a sense of discovery as one moves between rooms; of compression and expansion as one passes through massive stone walls into lofty, yet comfortable rooms; and of connection with nature.

Field-dressed and loosely coursed stone, hand hewn cherry wood floors, raw western red cedar beams and roof deck, elemental copper wall panels and fixtures, and oversized cleft slate tiles were all chosen for their rich natural textures and propensity to demonstrably age and become worn over time. Composed in a contemporary and clean style, the simultaneous density and levity evoke the forms and impressions experienced by the client and architect during shared trips to the local and world famous residences of Kentuck Knob and Fallingwater.

The concept of water as an agent of change and fluidity is expressed in the building through fountains, pools and streams that mutate and disarrange the established order of walls.  Light, as in a forest, is allowed to filter through clerestories and canopies before settling into the space as a welcome guest. The ability of nature, over time, to mutate the world is critical to the character of this building, which itself will darken, stain, and become mossy as it ages and is slowly absorbed into its landscape.

The copper standing seam roof extends from the hillside at varying levels like sheets of rock jutting from the landscape. Its angular profile is balanced by the expanse of the roof and rhythm of thin shadow lines created by beautifully crafted standing seams, installed by Miller Thomas Gyekis. Overly copper wall panels slip between the roof, perched above the supporting stone structure, complimenting the cascading nature of the design.

Architect

General Contractor

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Bethel, New York

Completed in 2006, the sweeping roof of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts has an understated beauty. Simple and well-proportioned, the center invites visitors into the octagonal lobby through a grand glass facade under an elegant standing-seam copper roof. 

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is a new, multi-venue cultural center located on the original site of the legendary 1969 Woodstock festival. Set within nearly 2,000 pristine acres, Bethel Woods preserves the iconic concert site and creates a vibrant destination. 

Blending architecture to complement the majestic landscape, the center features a 4,500-seat long-span pavilion; 1,000-seat outdoor amphitheatre; and The Museum at Bethel Woods including galleries and  high-definition theater. 

Westlake Reed Leskosky provided integrated design services including planning, programming, architecture, structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering, theatre technology, historic preservation consulting, sustainable design, interpretive research and cultural planning. 

“Rather than have the architecture upstage the sylvan splendor of the natural site, we sought to design the architecture as a complement to the land.  The materials are natural materials found or commonly used in the native area.  The forms are thoroughly new, yet evoking the familiar and vernacular.  All of the architectural elements are harmonious with this extraordinary natural setting.  The use of copper is consonant with the rural nature of the landscape and its local craft traditions,” comments Paul E. Westlake, Jr., Managing Principal of Westlake Reed Leskosky.

The materials of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts express the design concept of the creation of a sense of place and a comfortable relationship between the buildings and the land, with architecture that is familiar and timeless. Copper is a key part of the natural palette, along with stone and wood, that weds built forms to the bucolic landscape and evokes the craft tradition of its region.

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts Web site: http://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/.

Architect

Park Synagogue East
Pepper Pike, Ohio

This new synagogue incorporates a sanctuary, school, and library and serves as a new East Campus for the expanding congregation of the Park Synagogue. The building is a simple steel-frame box dressed in a stick and panel mosaic of copper cladding.  Three large organic shapes—a Jerusalem stone sanctuary and two great copper canopies that bend towards each other in a gesture of welcome and blessing—burst forth from the structure. 

The copper roof and siding were hand fabricated from 16-ounce sheet stock; the roof and horizontal battens from 20 ounce material.  To minimize joints, the roofing was roll formed on site in lengths of approximately 50-feet long.  Full-size mock-ups were made of the board and batten siding to ensure the quality of the final fabrication and installation. 

A lengthy process, installation began in the fall and continued through the winter into summer.  Weathering of the copper was rapid; proximity to Interstate-271 patinated it within weeks of installation.  Whether they were installed weeks or months earlier, the panels were evenly matched by site dedication in the following fall.

The building’s 18 tons of copper translate into 37,108 sq. ft. of copper, with 15,720 sq. ft. on the elevations, 9,546 sq. ft. in the canopies, and 11,841 sq. ft. on the roof.  The copper was installed by Penn Perry Inc. of Pittsburgh, PA.

Architect

1630 California Street
San Francisco, California

This 40-unit residential condominium project in one of San Francisco's older neighborhoods, replaced a derelict theater that had been long abandoned.  To counteract its otherwise stark surroundings, the architect chose to accentuate the vertical nature of this new six-story building by introducing three cylindrical bays that are clad in a narrow 8" copper shingle from Zappone.  The curved bays alternate with angular corner window projections clad in steel siding.  As the building ages, and the copper oxidizes, the juxtaposition of these two materials changes and harmonizes over time.  The narrow shingles, as opposed to the more standard 16" wide type, allow for a naturally curved surface made of segmented shingles which easily accommodate small bends at the joints while remaining otherwise flat.

In addition to solving many technical problems, the choice of copper shingles as siding creates a softer exterior, something the architect sought as both a counter to an otherwise harsher metal exterior and as a reference to the many notable Queen Anne-styled Victorians, which are characterized by elaborate round corner bays, in the nearby Russian Hill neighborhood. Copper also proved to be the best material for flashing around the curved surfaces and around the complex joining of the segmented windows and curved wall surfaces.  The metal’s natural ductility allowed for the hand-crafted flashings to fit perfectly around the window frames to achieve a watertight condition.

Architect

Mable Peters Caruth Center for the Communities Foundation of Texas
Dallas, Texas

Conveniently located by the busy North Central Freeway Corridor in Dallas, Texas, the new Mable Peters Caruth Center provides a beautiful meeting and office space for a variety of non-profit organizations. Sweeping, curved double-lock standing seam copper roofs are intended to weather over time to the typical dark-brown/green patina that naturally develops in this part of the country. Together, the tone of the naturally weathering copper roofs and gutters, and the pre-patinated copper wall cladding coordinate beautifully with the locally quarried Texas limestone used elsewhere on the building.

Architect

Sheet Metal Contractor