Walled Lake Central High School has been welcoming students for more than two decades. The existing 25-year-old structure was failing, causing water intrusion in the academic wing.
To fix this problem, TMP Architecture was tasked with leading an extensive renovation on the building’s façade.
“We were looking for a one-stop solution,” said Bradley Pitt, the project’s job captain. “We didn’t want to go back with a rainscreen style system if we could help it.”
This led the team to select insulated metal panels (IMPs) as the building envelope. IMPs provide four layers of protection–air, water, vapor, and insulation–in a single component system.
The school’s classroom pods were renovated using more than 1,487 m2 (16,000 sf) of Kingspan’s QuadCore B Designwall 2000.
These joints provide maximum thermal efficiency while creating a double barrier against air and water penetration. This water barrier eliminates the need for multiple waterproofing layers and materials, helping to streamline construction and lower costs. This insulation creates a strong barrier against heat transfer, reducing the school’s heating and cooling costs and maintaining a comfortable indoor environment for students.
IMPs also provided TMP Architecture aesthetic freedom, with a wide selection of profiles and colors. The panels can also be installed either horizontally or vertically, giving architects extensive design flexibility.
The redesign required only one installer, Liberty Sheet Metal, so panels in the colors Ascot White, Dove Grey, and Zinc Grey were selected. The team felt a horizontal pattern of greys meshed best with the building’s existing blue brick structure. Pitt added that the long horizontal panel pattern helped create a unique expression that enhanced the overall aesthetic of the building.
Owner: Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, Walled Lake, Mich., wlcsd.org
General contractor: AUCH Construction, Pontiac, Mich., auchconstruction.com
Architect: TMP Architecture, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., tmp-architecture.com
Installer: Liberty Sheet Metal, Ray Township, Mich., libertysheetmetal.net
Insulated metal panels: Kingspan Insulated Metal Panels North America, kingspan.com
