The Ridge Senior Living Center

Case Study

Nestled in the foothills of the Rockies, along the eastern edge of Salt Lake City, is The Ridge Senior Living, a 60,000-square-foot assisted living and memory care facility completed in 2017. The unique design of the building consists of both a three-story, L-shaped structure housing the residential units, as well as single-story common spaces located in the crook of the L.

Problem

The three-story section of the facility was capped with a white membrane roof, encumbered with a series of unwieldy air handlers for the HVAC system. Parapets concealed the roof and its machinery. The roofs of the building’s one-story sections—which house the reception area, front entrance canopy and the large common spaces that fill the back side of the facility—are clearly visible from the windows of the second-and third-floor living quarters. Indeed, the one-story roof dominates the view from all the rooms on the back side of the facility. The challenge was to find a way to do the important job of boosting thermal resistance and wind resistance, while also taking into account the aesthetic that would affect quality of life of the seniors, incorporating a more attractive roof for the residents to see when they looked out the window.

Solution

The clean aesthetic design of standing seam MBCI metal roofing panels proved to be the perfect choice for roofs of The Ridge’s one-story sections. Specifically, the owner selected the SuperLok^® 16″ metal panel roofing system, a mechanically field-seamed, vertical leg standing seam roof system in which the seams of the low-slope roofs present a pleasant geometric design.

Beyond aesthetics, and arguably most importantly, the SuperLok^® panels provide exceptional uplift resistance with the ability to add additional insulation to the existing roof, mitigating potential damage from unfavorable conditions.

SuperLok^® panels, in fact, are available in both 12″ and 16″ widths, have a 2″ tall slim rib to withstand the most rigorous weather conditions. They also feature a concealed fastening system, contributing to the clean linear aesthetic that is gaining popularity in contemporary architectural buildings and which was integral to the specification of this product to meet the project’s needs.

In general, SuperLok^® panels can be installed directly over purlins or bar joists, and do not require a solid substructure for support. The Ridge, however, the roof was specified with a “Cadillac installation,” according to Capitol Roofing project manager, James Fiscus. In order to achieve superior thermal insulating performance, the metal panels were installed over a nail base. The nail base is the combination of polyiso insulation and a layer of plywood for firm attachment of the roofing panels. Additionally, the selected color, Signature^® 300 Midnight Bronze, is an attractive, premium fluoropolymer low-gloss coating with 70 percent fluoropolymer resin that ensures a long-life exterior finish.

By selecting MBCI SuperLok^® metal roofing panels, the owner reaped the benefits of adding additional insulation which resulted in superior thermal insulating performance and uplift resistance. Also, the aesthetic appearance of the SuperLok^® metal panels avoided the potential eyesore of industrial-looking membrane roofs dominating the window view from half the rooms in this facility, thereby creating a win-win for the owner and tenants alike.