Metal Barrel Roofs Provide Pleasing Appearance on New Fire Station

Everyone notices curves and everyone will notice the seven-barrel roofs on the new Tyler Fire Station #5 in Tyler, Texas.

The City of Tyler considered installing asphalt shingles and single-ply roofing, but decided on metal because of the aesthetic and durability benefits of metal roofing. The $1.7 million facility, designed by Lochner BWR Division, Architects of Tyler, Texas, is located where it’s quite visible, so appearance was an important consideration. This 8,865 square foot building was part of a plan to provide better spacing and coverage for a large portion of the west part of the city and reduce response times.

McElroy Metal manufactured and delivered more than 14,000 square feet of its Maxima ADV 2-inch tall standing seam panels in PVDF Medium Bronze – chosen because of its similarities to the traditional brass that adorned historic fire engines. The striated 16-inch wide panels were manufactured from 24-gauge Galvalume.

Hefner Roofing of Pittsburg, Texas took less than four weeks to install the roofing panels with a crew of eight. “Working with curved panels is a little more labor intensive all the way around,” says Matt Jones, Project Manager at Hefner Roofing. “You have to handle every panel individually a couple times before you get it installed. It’s not difficult, it just takes a little longer.”

The Maxima ADV 2-inch panels were delivered strapped in crates. They were unpacked and separated so each panel could be curved at the jobsite by a McElroy Metal roll forming technician. All seven sections of barrel roofing were conveniently the same radius.

Jones said a special hoist, built in the shape of the curved panels, was constructed to get the panels up to the roof. Hoisting curved panels a few at a time takes more time that hoisting a crate of panels. Hoisting panels that are not crated are more likely to be affected by winds, so extra care was taken during that process. Once panels were safely on the roof, they were attached to the structure in a similar manner to a non-curved roof, using the same clips and seamer.

Hefner Roofing has done several barrel roof installations and Jones says experience helps make the next one a little easier.