Parking pretty: Art becomes an integral part of the built environment

Parking garages: These utilitarian structures serve an important purpose in cities and towns where street spots are at a premium and surface lots provide a meager return on investment for the square footage of real estate they consume.

Most parking garages are as utilitarian in design as they are in function: boxy, concrete structures devoid of style and often aesthetically at odds with other buildings on the street or campus where they are found.

Recently, however, the design/build community is taking a new look at parking garages, spurred in some instances by municipal requirements to screen the structures to improve urban aesthetics. This shift is creating new opportunities for metal working companies like American Metalcraft, Inc. (AMI), a second-generation, family-owned business that provides quality custom architectural metal products to curtain wall contractors, general contractors, installers, roofers, and glaziers nationwide.

“American Metalcraft has become well known for our intricately designed and perforated solid plate aluminum panels,” said Holly Gotfredson, president of American Metalcraft. “Our rainscreen and metal panel systems, custom sunshades, infill, perforated and shadowbox panels, brake metal, and column covers grace the Froedtert Health Campus in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; William and Mary College Creative Arts Center in Williamsburg, Virginia; SFSU in Richmond, California; Fort Bliss Hospital in El Paso, Texas; and Westminster High School in Atlanta to name just a few.”

From the Art World to the Factory Floor

Gotfredson’s journey to becoming the head of a respected metal manufacturing company began in the fine arts field. An art history major at the University of Georgia, she spent time in creative industries, working at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta before moving on to marketing and advertising design work.

“Metal manufacturing was not on my career bingo card as a young adult,” she said. “During college, little was known or said about viable, rewarding careers for women in manufacturing, construction, architecture, and engineering.”

That changed when Gotfredson’s father-in-law, founder of AMI, hired her to do marketing design for the company. After working on projects like sales literature and web site updates, Gotfredson eventually became the company’s full-time marketing and advertising director. She then did stints in the finance and HR departments before turning her interest to the factory floor.

“The more I learned about the process of metal manufacturing and how metal products are used, the more fascinated I became,” she said. “I had never thought about art as being part of the built environment, but it’s rewarding to see creative expression and the skills of many trades come together to create a unique space.”

In 2017, Gotfredson purchased the company from her in-laws and quickly set to work implementing her vision for its future growth. In 2021, she purchased American Metalcraft’s sister company, Finishing Dynamics. American Metalcraft is one of the few metal manufacturing facilities with its own in-house liquid paint line.

“We have direct eyes and hands on everything, from design and engineering, to fabrication, finishing, and shipping,” Gotfredson said. “Not only does this allow for stricter quality control, it also avoids costs associated with shipping fabricated panels to an outside finisher, allowing us to pass those savings along to our customers. Plus, it helps ensure that our products are crated properly so they are not damaged in transit.”

Gotfredson noted that AMI does not maintain any inventory. All products are made from true plate—not coil—and are custom fabricated for each project. The company also doesn’t force designers to choose a particular panel size or module. Instead, they work with their customers to find a bespoke solution that balances the designer’s aesthetic concerns with the best use of materials.

High-Quality Metal Designs Deserve High-Quality Finishing

AMI’s sister company, Finishing Dynamics, processes parts utilizing quick color changes that save customers time and money. The line uses cutting-edge technology and has a processing window that is 4-feet-wide by 5.5-feet-high by 38-feet-long—one of the largest in the Southeast—allowing the company to paint aluminum products in all different sizes and profiles.

All metal products are chemically cleaned and treated using a five-stage, non-hazardous, zirconium-based pre-treatment system. All paint is applied using electrostatic paint guns and is cured in Finishing Dynamics’ industrial bake oven. The manual spray process ensures complete coverage of exposed surfaces, regardless of profile.

Finishing Dynamics uses top-quality Kynar 500® FSF® PVDF resin-based metal coatings, giving designers and project specifiers confidence that their structures will maintain their coated integrity for the long term. Kynar 500® FSF® PVDF resin has been trusted for six decades to help protect commercial, industrial, and residential buildings around the world. The coatings were the original high-performance finishes for architectural metal and remain architects’ first choice, in part because they meet the rigorous AAMA-2605 specification.

“Kynar 500® resin-based coatings take advantage of one of nature’s strongest chemical bonds,” said Paul Lavallee, global market manager, Kynar® PVDF Coatings, Arkema. “This carbon-fluorine bond is impervious to the sun’s UV radiation and won’t degrade over time.”

“With the complicated, laser-cut designs we fabricate, we need a high-quality finish,” Gotfredson said. “We trust Kynar 500® to apply easily and consistently on our line and provide the long-lasting, colorfast performance our clients demand. And we trust in the innovation Arkema brings to the table when working with us and our paint suppliers.”

Because AMI finishes their plate products post-fabrication, all edges are coated. There are no post-coating sheared edges to create opportunities for oxidation. In addition, the use of plate allows designers to specify a virtually unlimited number of colors for each project.

The capabilities of Gotfredson’s combined companies and their use of Kynar 500® PVDF resin-based coatings are just two of the many reasons AMI and Finishing Dynamics were awarded two high-profile parking garage projects in Philadelphia.

Live! Casino and Hotel Blends Form and Functionality

Voted Best Overall Gaming Resort and Best Overall in Dining and Entertainment in Pennsylvania by Casino Player Magazine, Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia is a one-stop destination in South Philadelphia’s Stadium District to enjoy the fast-paced action of four major professional sports teams, memorable entertainment, premier dining, upscale accommodations, and world-class gaming. Its Event Center offers more than 15,500-square-feet of customizable meeting and event space with ample, secure parking.

Construction of Live! began in 2018 and continued during the COVID pandemic, with completion in 2021. The project received a GBCA Construction Excellence Award in 2021.

Among the many contractors and subcontractors working on the project was EDA Contractors, which specializes in the exterior envelope of commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings. EDA was tasked with providing watertight elevations for the building, along with fabricating and installing 90,000-square-feet of panels, including 15,500-square-feet of custom-designed and fabricated perforated metal panels from AMI for the casino/hotel’s parking garage.

Jeff Dorneman served as EDA’s senior project estimator and manager for the job and said the project was unique in two significant ways.

“First, it featured a new installation method called hybrid panelization, in which a subcontractor built the stud walls, sheathing, and air barrier on large 10 by 15 foot panels, then delivered them to the job site, where everything was assembled,” Dorneman said. “We installed the sub-framing, insulation, and cladding in the field and taped the seams to create a monolithic air barrier, which allowed the interior building process to begin weeks earlier—a key consideration for a casino whose gaming license had an expiration date that could not be moved.”

Second, the garage portion of the project was both unique in its design and its finished form.

“The architect designed a 9-story parking deck with a ‘bride’s veil’ design in which 0.125-inch-thick perforated aluminum plate panels fabricated by AMI stand off the building by several feet, creating a curved and flowing effect,” he said, noting that the original nine-story design was rejected by the casino’s neighbor, Citizen’s Bank Park, home to the Philadelphia Phillies, which was concerned that the taller structure would obscure fan-cherished views of downtown. “A nine-story structure quickly became a five-story structure, but the architect wanted it to maintain its original look and feel.”

Throughout the changing design-build process, EDA worked closely with engineers at AMI, who designed the sub-framing, structural aluminum tube framing, and corner truss system to hold the perforated panels. AMI also fabricated a light trough at the base of some panel areas.

“Communication between our team and the AMI team was fast, furious, and flawless,” Dorneman said. “We clicked and collaborated very well. They were always available to address questions, adjust to variable field conditions, and come up with solutions on the fly.”

The fact that AMI had an in-house finishing line capable of up to four-coat finishes through Finishing Dynamics was also an asset to the project, according to Dorneman, who noted that four shades of white and beige were specified for the project. After dark, these off-white colors become the canvas for a spectacular, backlit light-and-video display that creates excitement and energy for visitors.

“Finishing Dynamics did a great job matching the finish colors used on the perforated plate panels for the garage with the colors used on the aluminum composite material (ACM) panels for the casino and hotel, which also had a Kynar 500® -based coating,” he said. “Because you can see the backside of the garage screenwall from inside the garage, that needed to be coated as well, along with all the fasteners and sub-framing. The quality control exhibited by Finishing Dynamics during the color matching process helped keep the project on schedule.”

Repeating a Successful Process

Fast on the heels of the Live! Casino project, EDA again tapped AMI and Finishing Dynamics for another Philadelphia project—the garage at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC). The 493,039-square-foot parking garage was the main feature of PPMC’s $60 million expansion project. It was designed to replace an existing four-story garage and reduce the total ground footprint used for parking.

Brian Hee, EDA’s vice president of operations for the Philadelphia Metro area served as project manager for the PPMC project, which involved roofing and waterproofing elements, as well as a 37,000-square-foot perforated metal panel screen wall for the garage. EDA helped to steer the project away from the originally specified fiberglass reinforced panels (FRPs) to perforated metal panels fabricated and finished by AMI and Finishing Dynamics, after a poor experience they had with the other panel system and its supplier.

“Lead times with the original supplier and FRP solution were an issue and based on our earlier experiences working with AMI and Finishing Dynamics, we knew we could get the aesthetic look the project’s architect wanted,” Hee said. “We also knew that we would get the product we needed when we needed it, so that our portion of the project didn’t negatively impact the general contractor or other trades on site.”

The garage features a structurally expressive façade, with a bubble-like pattern that adds a touch of airiness and whimsy to an otherwise stalwart and institutional structure. It meets the city’s airflow and screening requirements in an elegant and unique way.

“AMI’s custom-cutting capabilities mean we can accommodate designers’ every wish—from geometric patterns and organic designs to logos, landscapes, images, and more,” Gotfredson said. “For this project we fabricated 900 perforated panels with a variety of CNC water-jet, custom-cut ovals of different sizes.”

In addition to the perforated screen wall panels, AMI fabricated structural aluminum tube framing and aluminum angle components for a substructure to attach the panels. As with the Live! Casino project, having design, fabrication, and finishing services under one roof with AMI and Finishing Dynamics gave EDA peace of mind throughout the project.

“Whenever you’re dealing with third-party painters, there are extra levels of logistical and timing issues that make a huge difference,” Hee said. “Holly and her team directly touch everything from field dimensioning to fabrication drawings to the QA stamp of approval on the finished product.”

Finishing Dynamics’ use of Kynar 500® resin-based coatings also provided peace of mind to the project’s architect that the finish would be there for the long term.

Giving Back to Women in Manufacturing Fields

EDA’s Dorneman and Hee noted that, in addition to the end-to-end capabilities, product quality, and easy working relationship they get with AMI and Finishing Dynamics, the fact that the companies are a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) makes it easy to recommend them for future projects that require supply chain diversity.

For Gotfredson, having the WBE designation is more than just a checklist item; it is an integral part of her leadership position in the manufacturing industry community. She speaks regularly about careers in manufacturing to middle- and high-school students and young adults considering their future paths.

“There are very few women role models and mentors in this field,” Gotfredson concluded. “I am honored to be a female ambassador for the manufacturing industry with girls and young women. Manufacturing is no longer just a “dirty,” timeclock-stamping job. It offers great opportunities for women to solve and innovate, elevate your personal and professional growth, and become a business owner and industry leader.