Case Study
Walled Lake Central High School
More than 16,000 square feet of Kingspan QuadCore B Designwall 2000 panels were installed on the school’s classroom pods. The panels provided four layers of protection in one system. This helped the project team improve the performance of the existing building envelope without returning to a complex, multicomponent wall assembly.
Walled Lake Central High School in Walled Lake, Michigan, has been welcoming students for more than two decades. After all this time, the existing 25-year-old structure was failing, causing water intrusion to be an issue in the academic wing.
To fix this problem, TMP Architecture was tasked with leading an expansive renovation on the building’s façade.
“We were looking for a one-stop solution,” Bradley Pitt, the project’s job captain, said. “We didn’t want to go back with a rainscreen style (multicomponent) 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.
Same school, new look
Designwall 2000 panels provide both a performance and aesthetic upgrade to the school's aging rainscreen facades
More than 16,000 square feet of Kingspan’s QuadCore B Designwall 2000 were used to renovate the school’s classroom pods.
Designwall 2000 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.
Kingspan’s QuadCore B insulated foam core is one of the most thermally efficient insulation cores on the market. This insulation creates a strong barrier against heat transfer, reducing heating and cooling costs for the school and maintaining a comfortable indoor environment for students during Michigan’s harsh winter months.
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.
Requiring only one installer, Liberty Sheet Metal, panels in the colors Ascot White, Dove Grey, and Zinc Grey were selected for the redesign – a process that, according to Pitt, took the team a long time.
“We were trying to keep the same sort-of look, or something that would go along with it, but get something that was new and fresh – in addition to being watertight,” Pitt said. “It was many years in the making.”
The team tried many panel layouts and color options but ultimately 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.
IMPs are providing Walled Lake Central High School with an aesthetic design, thermal efficiency, and a complete air and water barrier – with plans for a second phase of renovations in the future.
