Zinc panels met the aesthetics project goals for the City of Melissa’s public safety and city hall buildings.
Ron Hobbs, AIA, president at Ron Hobbs Architecture and Interior Design LLP, says, “The building’s image was very important to us. We wanted the building to be timeless in its appearance and convey a sense of permanence. To accomplish this, we chose a simple palette of materials: brick, metal panels, and glass.
“Zinc was selected not only because of the way the material looks initially but also the way it ages. Painted metal panels would not convey the sense of permanence that zinc provides,” he continues.
The 3,716 m2 (40,000 sf) public safety building houses the city’s 1,265 m2 (13,616 sf) three-bay fire station, 2,053 m2 (22,099 sf) police station, and municipal court. The project also included renovating the interior and exterior of the city hall building.
The project was initiated to address an increase in demand for services brought on by a burst in population. Between the 2010 and 2020 U.S. Census, the city of Melissa’s population increased from 4,700 to about 14,000.
Sheet Metal Supply Ltd. fabricated and Engineered Metals Co. installed 1,486 m2 (16,000 sf) of 1-mm (0.04-in.) thick zinc to complete it. The 305-mm (12-in.) wide zinc panels have 12.7 mm (0.5 in.) reveals.
Dave Stone, project manager at Engineered Metals, says, “With zinc, we’re always careful with storage and handling. We tarp material to avoid white rust, use cotton gloves to avoid fingerprints, and remove plastic protection from the panels. It’s important that any cutting is done with non-serrated snips as serrated snips cause microfractures in the material.”
Owner: City of Melissa, Texas
General contractor: Crossland Construction Co. Inc., Prosper, Texas, crossland.com
Architect: Ron Hobbs Architecture and Interior Design LLP, Garland, Texas, ronhobbsarchitects.net
Installer: Engineered Metals Co., Austin, Texas
Fabricator: Sheet Metal Supply Ltd., Grayslake, Ill., sheetmetalsupplyltd.com
Zinc: RHEINZINK America Inc., Woburn, Mass., rheinzink.us
