Transferred from the U.S. Air Force to a group of volunteers in 1994, Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum is located at the former Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado. Today, the museum boasts more than 16,908 m2 (182,000 sf) of hangar space full of iconic aircraft, space vehicles, artifacts, military uniforms, and more. When the existing corrugated metal roof on the structure had reached its useful lifespan, the project team retrofitted it with a curved standing-seam roof.
Fusing function and form, commercial building roofs in the United States are opening up new vantage points for taking in iconic cities, landmarks, and waterways. As ordinances make protected membrane roof assemblies (PMRAs) more attractive to designers, they are also growing in size.
A high-performance roof system is durable, resilient, and allows a building to be occupied after a disaster event and continues performing during a loss of power. Designing beyond code minimums could help a roof stay intact with minimal damage during a storm.
The Mori Hosseini Student Union at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida, designed by ikon.5 architects, is an expression of the university’s mission to teach the science, practice, and business of aviation and aerospace.
A recently completed multistory building was experiencing significant water leakage directly below the interfaces of rising walls at setback roofs during prolonged wind-driven rain events. The building was principally clad with 150-mm (6-in.) thick architectural precast concrete (APC) panels finished by the fabricator with a 75-mm (3-in.) thick mortar-set stone veneer placed in a random rubble pattern.
