Outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s Southern Beltway project connects U.S. Route 22 with I-79. The $800-million, 13-mile beltway project serves as a cashless tollway for the region. 

Along the beltway, the commission added a new maintenance facility to support highway and vehicle maintenance needs. The raised site in the rolling hills of southwestern Pennsylvania inspired architects to design a building that merged contemporary form with the old barn structures that populate the landscape. When architects needed a durable, aesthetically appealing roofing solution, they turned to CENTRIA for a standing seam metal roof system that met the mark. 

Designed for Longevity

On the maintenance facility site, four new buildings created space for administrative offices, maintenance, storage, salt storage, and support facilities for a fully functional and sustainable operation. The project team looked for a roof system that would provide a 50-year lifespan, easy maintenance, and consistent appearance.

CENTRIA SRS 3 roof panels offered the optimal low-slope system and met performance requirements. The project team desired a roof system that met FM 4471 approval, which includes wind uplift and hail resistance, as well as a 20-year weathertightness warranty.

Crews installed 65,768 square feet of slate gray SRS 3 panels across the four buildings. SRS 3 roofing panels offer versatile installation with striking sightlines for new construction and retrofit projects. The standing seam panels are designed as a weathertight, low-slope system.

“We knew we could trust CENTRIA products to deliver longevity and consistency in appearance for the standing seam roof,” said Fred Santoro, architect at AE Works. “CENTRIA provided good support with construction documents that we could use as a basis of design, and though we used a gray finish, the wide array of finish options was a benefit.”

To enclose the sides of the fuel island, the project team selected IW Series metal rainscreen panels for longevity and flat, smooth panels to maintain aesthetic consistency across the site. The rainscreen panels provided a weathered and varied finish the design team desired while offering modern efficiencies of continuous insulation. Crews installed 6,500 square feet of 18-gauge, slate gray IW Series rainscreen to complete the fuel island under the gabled roof.

IW Series panels eliminate exposed fasteners for a clean, unbroken aesthetic and can be installed year-round. A common lock-joint design makes them interchangeable on a project and minimizes moisture intrusion. IW Series panels are best suited for industrial applications.

The Open Road

The project team began planning for the Southern Beltway Maintenance Facility in 2017. The facility opened in the spring of 2021 in time for the ribbon cutting for the Southern Beltway. The project received an Architectural Engineering Institute Merit award for mechanical systems design.