A 1950s car dealership building that was repurposed for factory use in the 1980s was then retrofit into an office building with retail space. The 6,500-square-foot East Main Business Park houses Principle Design and Engineering PLLC’s office and three retail units. The design engineering firm served as general contractor and self-performed metal roof and metal wall panel installations.
Metal wall panels were used to maintain and modernize the building’s 1950s car dealership appearance. At the portion of the building on East Main Street where the design engineering company’s offices are located, Principle Design and Engineering installed 1,600 square feet of MBCI’s 24-gauge steel Designer Series wall panels in Solar White. The panels are horizontal on flat surfaces and vertical around a curved corner of the building. To underscore the car dealership appearance, a band of bright red LED lighting that looks like neon lighting wraps around the top of the white walls.
On the retail shop side of the building, Principle Design and Engineering installed horizontally 750 square feet of MBCI’s 24-gauge steel ShadowRib wall panels in Slate Gray. Mike and Dan O’Reilly are brothers and owners at Principle Design Engineering. Mike O’Reilly, PE, managing partner at the company, says, “We chose to readapt and reimagine what this building could be for our office. Holding true to its roots and for our automotive passion, from East Main it looks like a 1950s dealership with a modern twist. From the Midland Drive side, it looks like a building possibly built in 2021. I’m a car guy, so this was the perfect building for us. We use a lot of metal and metal was the obvious choice because it was cost effective and it gave us the modern aesthetic we were looking for.”
To build the bowed roof, first, on the backside of it, Principle Design and Engineering and James R. Denekamp Framing installed American Building Components’ 29-gauge steel Perma-Clad roof panels in Coal Black. Then, on the front of the roof, panels were installed overlapping the backside panels by about 6 feet to hide the lap from street view. Large gutters were over-framed to accommodate 36-inchwide, exposed fastener panels with 5/8-inch-tall ribs. Coal Black coil was used to press-brake caps for the parapet walls.
