Colorado Medical Center’s Metal Roof Designed to Withstand Extreme Weather

In late 2004, the Good Samaritan Medical Center opened its doors to the residents of Lafayette, Colorado, for the first time. The medical center’s sprawling 74-acre campus features stunning mountain views and offers a range of health services, from birthing centers to adult inpatient care and everything in between. Inside the center, visitors can find spacious patient rooms and state-of-the-art equipment.

After 17 years of enduring the extreme weather of the Rockies, the medical center’s roof was nearing the end of its lifespan and needed to be replaced to help the Good Samaritan Medical Center continue to provide healthcare services. In 2019, the building’s facility management team started looking for a roof that would provide the strength, durability and beauty that matched the level of clinical excellence inside the building.

The facility management team knew that a metal roofing system could withstand the area’s frequent snow squalls and hailstorms, as well as the summer’s intense UV radiation. They also knew that a metal roof could help the building maintain its sustainability goals. However, global supply chain issues, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, complicated finding a quality metal roof that could be fabricated and installed within a feasible timeline.

To procure the proper roof for the building, Good Samaritan Medical Center turned to a metal roofing manufacturer and distributer that could alleviate some of these complications, as well as offer a weathertightness warranty with a duration that exceeded the entire lifespan of the center’s original roof.

Predictable Lead Times

Throughout 2020, global supply chain issues disrupted almost every industry. Construction was no exception. Steel and other material shortages not only led to unpredictable fluctuations in cost but also lead times that extended up to 18 months. The uncertainty this created halted many building projects, but Good Samaritan Medical Center needed to replace their roof within their budget and proposed timeline to continue providing best-in-class healthcare services to patients. With this in mind, Front Range Roofing Systems, LLC, the project’s roofing contractor, turned to Drexel Metals, a metal roofing manufacturer, to provide predictability during an unpredictable year.

Front Range Roofing Systems was able to pick up all the coils they needed from the manufacturing facility in Arvada, Colorado, which has since moved to Denver, and transport the materials to Good Samaritan Medical Center safely. Once onsite, the Front Range Roofing Systems team could roll-form the coils into the DMC150SS profile and install them with ease. This method of fabrication sidelines delays and fluctuations in cost in a few ways. First, because the materials were transported by the contractors themselves, the potential for shipping damage is greatly decreased, which means this roofing project did not have to wait for additional supplies to make up for damages.

Onsite fabrication also meant the roofing team could order a large amount of stock coil — they did not have to wait for a specific profile to be fabricated in Arvada and then shipped to Lafayette. Additionally, because the panels were formed and immediately installed, this method of construction streamlined the building process to ensure maximum efficiency without sacrificing the quality of the metal roofing system or its ability to protect the medical center from the elements.

Standing Up to Mother Nature

Located between Denver and Boulder, Colorado, Good Samaritan Medical Center needed a roof that could withstand the area’s extreme weather events. The heavy-duty 22-gauge Galvalume panels promised to endure not just hail damage but also the intense UV exposure associated with mountainous regions.

Finished with Antique Bronze PVDF paint, the metal roofing system can also shed snow fast since the dark color absorbs heat from the sun and distributes it across its surface. This helps keep the medical center running efficiently in the winter by eliminating the cooling effect of snow build up. It also reduces the chances of ice building up and falling in chunks, which can pose a danger to people and vehicles below.

Roll-formed into a double lock DMC150SS profile, the metal roofing panels also provide a secure, weathertight seam. Given the snowfall in Lafayette is over double the national average, having a roof that can endure the weather without failing is paramount to providing a dry and optimal healthcare experience to patients and their families.

Further, while replacing the roof seemed like a straightforward process, Nick Coufal, project manager at Front Range Roofing Systems, LLC, explains that the roofing manufacturer supported the contractors through specific details to help ensure watertightness across the entire roofing envelope, making sure the roof was installed quickly and easily.

A Metal Roof That Supplies Certainty

While the double lock system and heavy gauge panels were specified to thwart the tough weather of the Rockies, the system’s 20-year weathertight warranty provides Good Samaritan Medical Center peace of mind that the standing seam of the DMC150SS will not leak or otherwise fail to protect the facilities. While the metal roofing manufacturer has a number of weathertightness warranties to fit the budget of any project, the medical center chose the standard option, which covers the standing seam up to the original installed cost of the standing seam roof system.

While 2020 was a time of change and adjustment, the metal roofing manufacturer on this project provided a modicum of predictability for the Good Samaritan Medical Center. Shortening lead times with local stock and supporting the roofing professionals hired for the project, Drexel ensured the fast installation of a high-quality roof. The materials used not only complement the tremendous scenery around the medical center but also promise to stand up to the hail, snow and intense UV exposure that high altitude cities are known for. Because the standing seam is backed by a 20-year weathertightness warranty, Good Samaritan Medical Center can rest assured they are covered for longer than the entire lifespan of their previous roof.

TEAM

Architect: Davis Partnership Architects, Denver, Colorado, davispartnership.com

Roofing Contractor: Front Range Roofing Systems, LLC, Greeley and Northglenn, Colorado, frontrangeroofing.com

MATERIALS

Metal Roof System: 22 gauge Galvalume DMC 150SS double lock panels with Antique Bronze PVDF coating, Drexel Metals, drexmet.com