The new Michael B. Coleman Government Center building consolidated four of the City of Columbus’ departments in one place: the Building and Zoning Services Department, Development Department, Public Service Department and a portion of the Public Utilities Department. The building exterior also brought together some metal building products. It has a metal roof and three types of metal wall panels.

Michael Bongiorno, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, managing principal, design director at Design Group Inc., says, “The building is comprised of two parts: a three-story portion designed to pay homage to city hall with tall windows, pilasters and limestone veneer, and an eight-story tower built of glass and zinc panels that sits over a base of granite.”

For the roof on the 180,000-square-foot, eight-story building, Kalkreuth Roofing and Sheet Metal Inc. installed CENTRIA’s Double-Lock standing seam roof system produced with RHEINZINK America Inc.’s prePATINA Blue-Grey zinc. The roof panels are 16 inches wide by 4 feet long.

The combination of materials represents the city’s stability and aspirations, Bongiorno says. “We envisioned a building that embodies our aspirations as a dynamic, diverse community in the 21st century and responds to the challenges of our times, while representing the grounded stability our citizens should expect of municipal government. The stone is deployed with a vertical orientation that meets the ground to reinforce the impression of stability, while the zinc panels are deployed with a horizontal orientation on a floating volume that suggests aspiration, dynamism and progress. Because this building is expected to be a 100-year investment by the city, both materials were selected for their timelessness, hassle-free maintenance and durability.”

In addition to the zinc panels, Kalkreuth installed 7,000 square feet of CENTRIA’s Versawall insulated metal panels (IMPs) and 4,500 square feet of CENTRIA’s Econolap single-skin metal rainscreen panels.

Chris Lemmon, project manager at Kalkreuth, says access to the building was limited due to the location in uptown Columbus. “We installed custom swing-stage rigging to overcome this challenge,” he says. “The project went very well and everyone did their part to ensure its success.”

Additionally, the $77 million project includes a new 700-car parking garage, and surrounding green space with pathways connecting buildings, seating, lighting, art and a rain garden.