General Contractor:  Barton Malow Alexander

When Tecta America East, a Sika Sarnafil Elite contractor, signed on to install the 104,200 square-foot roof on the new Penn State Health acute care facility, they probably thought the ten separate roof sections among the building’s staggered design would be the biggest challenge.  Little did they know that they would also have to manage supply chain issues that would delay start times and deliveries.

In addition to supply chain issues, the partnering trades on the project required scaffolding on the existing roof to complete their work, which delayed Tecta’s ability to prepare the roof area for a timely start.  Tecta worked with Sika Sarnafil and construction management firm Barton Malow Alexander to come up with creative and flexible ways to ensure the project stayed on target once work had begun.

While typical roof construction starts from the bottom up, Tecta tackled this project from top to bottom starting with the penthouse roof.  Tecta adjusted their schedules on the fly based on available materials and mobilized an efficient crew of eight to ten people a day while installing the roof system, and six guys a day while completing the finishing flashing and detail work.

In the end, Tecta was able to install the Sarnafil Adhered System utilizing 60 mil G 410 adhered roof membrane over a fully tapered insulation on time, thanks to the winning team of Sika Sarnafil and Tecta America East.  Now one thing that is not in short supply is congratulations on a job well done.

Architect:  Elkus Manfredi

Consultant:  SGH

General Contractor:  John Moriarty & Associates

Installation of the 142,000 square-foot roof at The TRACK at New Balance required a delicate combination of skill and efficiency.  The TRACK is a new multi-sport complex featuring a 200-meter indoor track, a sports research lab, regulation courts and turf field space.  It is also a concert venue with ground-level retail and food service, located next to the training facilities for Boston’s professional hockey and basketball teams.

Designed to complement the New Balance Sports Research Lab in Lawrence, Massachusetts, The TRACK will examine performance in running, soccer, baseball, tennis, and basketball, using specialty treadmills, next generation motion capture, and force platform technology.

In addition to installing the 60 mil Sarnafil G 410 roof membrane in reflective gray, Marshall Roofing, a Sika Sarnafil Alliance contractor,  had to deal with some unusual roof details.  These included three rows totaling 1,500 lineal feet of continuous gutters outfitted with a hydronic snow melt system – all lined with Sarnafil’s S 327 feltback membrane; six rows totaling 3,000 lineal feet of metal pipe snow guards and Sarnaclad Sno-gem systems; and a mechanical cooling tower where Sarnafil Self-adhered membrane adhered directly to 20-foot-high plywood walls was used to keep them watertight.

Fortunately, Marshall Roofing was able to stay on track with all the details and can proudly say they now join many of the TRACK athletes as being members of the winners’ circle!

Architect:  HKS Inc.

General Contractor: Turner Hunt AECOM JV

When you are working on construction for a new major stadium that is host to two professional football teams, the last thing you expect to encounter when installing the roof is a “forest” of some sort.  Yet that’s what Courtney Inc., a Sika Sarnafil Elite contractor, found when installing the 82,880 square-foot roof on the interior sections of the Hollywood Park Performance Venue at SoFi Stadium.

Installation of the Sarnafil Adhered Roof System utilizing 60 mil G 410 Self-Adhered reflective gray membrane on the new venue already posed many concerns:  it has a steeper than normal 3:12 slope; and installation, logistics, and storage all posed challenges.   With three layers of coverboard and two layers of insulation in the assembly, there was a need to keep material handling to a minimum, which is why Courtney Inc. decided the Sarnafil G 410 self-adhered membrane was the best option as it eliminated the need for pails of adhesive.

But the biggest challenge was the “forest” of steel tube supports for the extremely large HVAC units.  In addition to the HVAC supports, the main Stadium support columns that penetrate the roof also had to be made watertight.

Fortunately, the technical skills of the Courtney crew were able to overcome these obstacles and deliver a roof that will give a winning performance, much like LA did in the big game the stadium just hosted!  And that’s something to cheer about!

Architect:  CJMW Architecture

General Contractor:  Christman/Samet JV

The beautiful new Nido & Mariana Quebin Arena and Conference Center at High Point University may be pleasing to the eye, but the details Baker Roofing Company, a Sika Sarnafil Alliance contractor, faced during the roof installation were not as pleasant.  The 117,900 square-foot roof included a 30,000 square-foot dome that presented a myriad of challenges.

One issue was dealing with the multiple deck types, which required transitions that had to be “field engineered” with the Sika Sarnafil tech team.  There was also a large internal gutter system surrounding the base, which Baker Roofing Company lined with Sarnafil membrane to create a seamless and watertight transition.  The main area of the roof was congested with HVAC units, multiple elevated screen walls, and a gigantic atrium skylight, requiring three types of flashing techniques: prefabricated flashing, field fabricated flashing, and liquid-applied flashing.

But perhaps the crowning challenge was installing the Sarnafil Décor Roof System on the dome.  Décor was chosen as it simulates the look of a standing seam metal roof and the customer wanted it to match the other buildings on the campus that already had standing seam roofs.    The dome  was the last section to be roofed, which meant getting materials to the roof was a concern.  It took two mobilizations with a 300-ton crane to get everything in place.  Once the membrane was installed, then the profile ribs were laid out.  Two different radiuses had to be used because of the dome’s unique oval shape.

Fortunately, the end result is a stunning building with the lesson that sometimes challenges are worth the extra effort.

Built in 1906, the Columbus Avenue Baptist Church is not only a spiritual home but also a historic landmark in Waco, Texas.   When the 55,000 square-foot roof needed to be replaced, the church wanted to make sure the new roof matched the historical architecture of the campus.

As a Sika Sarnafil Alliance contractor, Target Solutions recommended replacing the roof with a proven Sarnafil roofing system.  After taking the four different roof areas down to the structural roof deck, Target mechanically-fastened the new 60 mil Sarnafil S 327 membrane over new insulation and coverboard on the majority of the areas.  On the Child Development Center (CDC) roof which has a concrete structural deck, new Sarnafil G 410 membrane was adhered.

Despite the complicated installation, Target Solutions was able to finish the project on budget and well ahead of schedule, so that the church could resume services with minimal interruption.

The result is a beautiful roof replacement that matches the rest of the church campus, and provides the water, wind, and hail protection that the previous roof lacked.  Most of all, it provides the congregation with the peace of mind knowing they’ve made a sound investment that will protect their beloved space for decades to come.

You could say it was the answer to all their prayers.

Architect:  Margulies Hoelzli Architecture

General Contractor:  Clune Construction

The 197,500 square-foot reroofing project at the Equinix Data Center in Dallas presented a challenge from the first job walk. This iconic, all-glass building’s roof was seven stories up with no parapet walls.  But what was really worrisome were the countless penetrations and support legs on the roof.  The overwhelming number of penetrations and flashing details needed scared away some potential roofing contractors – but not J Reynolds & Co., Inc.

Instead, J Reynolds, a Sika Sarnafil Elite contractor,  saw this as an opportunity to prove the skill of its crew.   First, there were low electrical pipes that needed to be disconnected, raised, and then reinstalled.  The crew could not stand up under some of the pipes and really had to squeeze to install the new Sarnafil Adhered Roof System.  Despite the pipes, J Reynolds was able to install the 80mil Sarnafil G 410 membrane in white without any disruption to the pipes or the building – and at no additional cost to the building owners.

After the old roof was removed, some detail design had to be done on the fly.  The GC, architect, J Reynolds, and Sika Sarnafil worked together to create these details that were essentially unknown during the bid process.

Now, looking at the new Sarnafil roof and the teamwork and quality workmanship that went into it,  the data speaks for itself.  This roof is a winner!

Architect:  WRNS Studio

Consultant:  Gardner Company

General Contractor:  Oakland Construction

Zions Bancorporation’s new technology and operations center was designed with sustainability in mind and is expected to achieve Platinum LEED certification.  The 420,000 square foot facility installed triple-pane exterior glass, ultra-efficient heating and cooling systems, and an extensive solar system on the roof.

The owner/architect selected the RhinoBond System utilizing Sarnafil 80 mil S 327 white membrane for the roof because of Sarnafil’s impressive third-party sustainability certifications and the ability for materials to be recycled at the end of its life-cycle.  In addition, the Sarnafil membrane is naturally fire resistant, and has a record of exceeding the lifespan of the solar system.

Utah Tile & Roofing, Inc., a Sika Sarnafil Elite contractor, was tasked with installing the Sarnafil RhinoBond System, which involved induction welding the membrane to specialty insulation plates over ½ inch gypsum board, R-30 insulation panels, and a vapor barrier over steel decking.  To go along with the new solar system on the roof, one megawatt of ground-based solar panels was also installed.

Thanks to the professionalism of Utah Tile & Roofing, Inc. and the sustainability of the Sarnafil RhinoBond System, Zions Bancorporation’s new technology center has reclaimed what used to be a remediated EPA Superfund site and made it an example of energy efficiency.  And that’s something you can bank on!

Architect:  TCA Architects
General Contractor:  Carmel Partners

The late French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy said, “Luxury is in each detail.”  That is a fitting credo for the Cumulus District, a new So-Cal lifestyle community in Los Angeles.  The property consists of 1,210 apartment units spread between a seven-story mid-rise building, and a 31-high story high rise apartment building with ocean views and amenities like a spa, screening room and sports lounge, and a fitness center.  There are also 100,000 square-feet of retail and dining, including a Whole Foods store.

Attention to detail not only gives the Cumulus District its lavish reputation, but it also helped Red Pointe Roofing, a Sika Sarnafil Elite contractor,  save the developers money by going with a Sikaplan Roof System utilizing the Sikaplan Fastened 60 mil reflective gray membrane on the 220,000 square-foot roof.   RPR worked closely with Sika Sarnafil to write a specification that would be a significant improvement over the proposed foam roof system.  One important aspect of the proposal was a detail for the platforms that housed the condensing units and mechanical set lines.  RPR’s proposed solution was to wrap the entire platform, wrap the mechanical pony wall, and install PVC field fabricated boots on the penetration.  Not only did this allow the owner to eliminate two trades (stucco and sheet metal) but it also meant everything could be covered under the Sika Sarnafil warranty.

Some may say “the devil is in the details,” but in this case, the details won the day – and project of the year!

Architect:  HMFH Architects
Consultant:  3ive
General Contractor:  Gilbane Building Company

The new Annie E. Fales Elementary School in Westborough, Massachusetts is setting a precedent for energy-efficient design as the first net-positive energy public school in Massachusetts.

The school, which accommodates approximately 400 students in grades kindergarten to third grade, maintains a compact footprint with two floors, which allows natural light to reach all interior spaces.  The school also includes a highly efficient building enclosure, geothermal heating and cooling, low wattage LED fixtures, and centralized energy management to reduce energy use to one -third of what is used by a typical school building.   The school also has a 25,000 square foot solar array on the 58,000 square foot sawtooth roof which is covered with Sarnafil EnergySmart Reflective Gray roof membrane.   The Sawtooth roof design maximizes surface area for south-facing solar panels and north-facing skylights.

Yet while the Annie E. Fales Elementary School takes advantage of nature to save energy, nature also caused some challenges when Capeway Roofing Systems Inc., a Sika Sarnafil Elite contractor, was installing the Sarnafil membrane.   The project was done in the winter in one of the snowiest regions of the state, so the Capeway Roofing Systems Inc. crew often had to shovel snow before they could begin work installing the roof system.  They also had to deal with frost and ice conditions on the sloped sections of the roof, resulting in them setting up a horizontal lifeline across the top of the roof to tie off safety harness ropes.

Fortunately, the result is an A+ -- which should make the town of Westborough proud…as well as Mother Nature.

Architects:  JHS Architects

Always Ready, Always There is the motto of the Army National Guard, and its true even when the Idaho National Guard’s Burley Readiness Center had to deal with a roof that had been sprouting leaks since it was installed roughly 12 years ago.  The original 16,500 square-foot roof was a metal standing seam system over a low pitch (1-2/12), which proved to be no match for Idaho’s snow country.

In an ideal world, the problematic metal roof would be removed and replaced,  but the system components could not be removed because the HVAC ducting was moved into the attic after the metal roof system was installed.  The metal mansard side panels were also in good condition and the Idaho National Guard wanted to reuse them, which meant the new replacement roof would have to match the existing red metal panel color.

Fortunately, Sika Sarnafil Elite contractor Thomas D. Robison Roofing company had a solution:  a Sarnafil Décor Roof System using a custom color (Corporal Red), 80 mil Sarnafil G 410 feltback membrane that was adhered over ½” Dens Deck Prime.  The new system went right over the existing metal roof with flute filler insulation filling the voids between the metal ribs.  Décor Profile ribs were then installed on the new Sarnafil membrane to simulate the look of the standing seam metal roof system.  The installation was done in a very visible location adjacent to the Burley Airport during weather that included high wind and hail.

Thanks to Thomas B. Robison Roofing and the Sarnafil Décor Roof System, the new roof will be Always There, Always Ready to protect the occupants and contents of the building from the elements.

Architect:  OAC Services and NBBJ

Consultant:  RDH Building Sciences, Inc.

Installing a new roof on a very prominent city icon is already pressure enough, tackling the job while also facing three huge obstacles in the way made this new roof project one needing a good playbook! While installing a 243,000 square-foot replacement roof on Seattle’s iconic Lumen Field, home to the city’s local professional football team, Snyder Roofing of Washington, a Sika Sarnafil Elite contractor,  had to contend with:  supply chain constraints, a global pandemic, and the need to accommodate the extraordinarily tight timeframe dictated by the football game schedule.  Fortunately, excellent teamwork between Snyder and Sika Sarnafil made this a winning effort.

The first problem was sourcing the needed pigment for the custom colored Sarnafil “Sea Blue” roof membrane.  While the supply chain issues made this - and the production of the Sarnafil G 410 membrane itself - a big challenge, Sika Sarnafil was able to meet the production schedule and keep the project on track.  At the same time Snyder was working with a separate Sarnafil RoofGraphics team to laser cut different colored membrane for the “Lumen Field” custom logo to be applied after the field membrane installation.

While construction was underway, Lumen Field also became the state’s largest vaccination center requiring Snyder to not only keep their work crews safe but now the thousands of people that came to the site daily as well.  Snyder also had to deal with determining the structural point load calculations of the roof deck, the overly robust safety plan, the logistics and staging of the 550-ton crane, membrane seam location calculations, as well as other components that go into a high profile, highly technical reroof.

With the support of Sika Sarnafil, the highly skilled Snyder team drove this project across the goal line ahead of schedule, scoring another win for Sarnafil that will define the Seattle skyline for years to come.

Architect:  DPA Architectural Group
Consultant:  Division 7 Design, Inc.

Planetariums are designed to help us look far and away to see stars, comets, and other out-worldly phenomena.   But as the Douglass Colony Group (DCG), a Sika Sarnafil Elite contractor, recently discovered when reroofing the 57-year old Adams State University -  Planetarium and Fine Arts Building, sometimes paying close attention to the details at hand is equally important.

One of the biggest challenges DCG faced, in addition to dealing with the dome shape, was dealing with a roof deck that was going in many directions.  On top of that, the design team, made up of DPA Architectural Group and Division 7 Design, wanted to add two layers of insulation and coverboard, with each piece of each layer differing in some way.

DCG addressed this by scanning the roof with a 3D scanner and using that data to create a 3D digital model to custom design the insulation and coverboard layers.   Each piece of the layers was precut on a router table, with the pieces for the dome scored on the backside to conform to the curve of the dome.

Once the different pieces were installed in accordance to the layout drawing, the insulation and coverboard were covered with custom cut membrane sections of the Sarnafil 60 mil G 410 feltback membrane in copper brown color and adhered to the coverboard.  Décor Profile ribs were then attached to simulate the look of a standing seam metal roof.   Since DCG was able to cut the material in their own warehouse to the precise dimensions needed, they were able to reduce product waste by 35%.

Thanks to DCG’s extreme planning, proper execution and detailed workmanship, planetarium visitors can again set their sights on the heavens.

The great humorist Will Rogers once said, “A vision without a plan is a hallucination.” Fortunately, the California Theatre of the Performing Arts, where Rogers had his last performance in 1935, had both a vision and a plan when it came to replacing the leaking built-up asphalt roofing system.

The historic California Theatre of the Performing Arts was built in 1928 as a vaudeville movie palace and is still home to the original Wurlitzer Style 216 pipe organ.  When roof leaks threatened the interior and its contents, Tim Barnhart, director of Facilities at the City of San Bernardino called Sika Sarnafil about replacing the roof as soon as possible – even though that meant in the midst of the rainy season.

San Marino Roof Company, Inc., a Sika Sarnafil Elite contractor, was selected for the project,  and had to work hard to make sure the removal of the old roof and installation of the new Sarnafil adhered roof system using G 410 72 mil membrane did not damage the 40-story high murals on the highly recognizable front of the building with the 1920’s type marquee.

This meant that San Marino Roof Company had to make sure new flashing details didn’t cover or affect the multitude of intricate building accents and features.  Ladder access was too risky to the old marquee at the front, so workers had to get to the marquee through a small wood-framed window.

The San Marino Roof Company also replaced the barrel section of the roof with Sarnafil EnergySmart tan membrane and edge metal which blended well with the rest of the building.  The result is a new roof that is key to helping this landmark remain a part of the San Bernardino performing arts culture for many more years.

And that’s no hallucination!

Architect:  BNIM Architects
General Contractor:  Russell Construction, Co., Inc.

Established in 1969, the Stanley Museum of Art at the University of Iowa is one of the leading university art collections in the country, with more than 15,000 pieces including Jackson Pollock’s Mural. Unfortunately, the original building that housed the art pieces was damaged in a flood in 2008, and pieces of the collection were scattered among locations on campus and across Iowa.  After being closed to the public for over 10 years, in 2022, the art collection will be reassembled in the new Stanley Museum of Art located just down the street from the original location.

Poly Vinyl Roofing, a Sika Sarnafil Elite contractor, was selected to install the roofing and waterproofing system on the new building and knew attention to detail was important in a building housing priceless works of art. 17,947 square-feet of adhered Sarnafil G 410 roof membrane in lead gray and 2,476 square-feet of Sarnafil G 476 waterproofing membrane in orange was chosen to keep the building watertight.  Over the waterproofing membrane, lightweight, heated pavers were installed giving the patio area year-round use even in the winter months.  To help ensure no water penetrated the building, an EFVM leak detection system was also installed within the roofing and waterproofing systems.

Poly Viny Roofing installed a system that should keep this impressive art collection safe and dry for decades to come.   You might say they created a winning masterpiece!

Architect:  MG2
General Contractor:  Span Construction

When Costco was constructing a Wholesale Store in the Santa Fe area of Mexico City, they wanted to make sure the building was first sustainable and also fit into the beautiful city surroundings.  Costco and architect MG2 selected a Sarnafil Green Roof System using local vegetation to not only blend into the unique surrounding landscape but also provide the benefits of a green “vegetated” roof: Superior insulation that helps decrease heating and cooling energy consumption, rainwater run-off mitigation, reduction of the urban heat island effect, sound insulation, and overall aesthetics.

Barrier Specialty Roofing and Coatings, a Sika Sarnafil Elite contractor, faced many layers (pun intended) of challenges when installing the 160,000 square-foot green roof. First, the work was done during the Covid pandemic, when there were strict travel restrictions.  Being located in the US made traveling internationally to Mexico even more of a challenge.  Barrier also had to deal with different building codes in Mexico, ever-changing weather conditions, and logistical issues.

Barrier was up to the challenge and faced these issues head on by working closely with Sika Sarnafil sales and technical staff.   The result is a world class waterproofing system under an attractive, environmentally sustainable living roof.    Although the project took almost three years from project conception to finish, it was well worth the wait!  Maybe someday Costco customers will get their bulk produce from on top of the store instead of inside it!