Washington Christian Academy depicts the look of stone

in low-maintenance, aluminum coping finished by Linetec

Wausau, Wis. (April 2011) – In preparation for its 50th anniversary, Washington Christian Academy completed construction on its k-12 private campus. As the crowning detail on the building’s traditional, masonry-rich, academic architecture, Alliance Roofing of Baltimore installed Metal-Era, Inc.’s Stone-Look Coping. Balancing aesthetics, performance and value, Linetec finished the aluminum coping with a proprietary, durable, custom painting technique called “Spattercoat” that mimics the appearance of actual stone. Designed by Grimm + Parker Architects and constructed by Forrester Construction Company, the project earned both regional and national awards from the Design Build Institute of America. The judges commended the team for blending both “modern and more traditional elements for a timeless look.” “They selected this product because they wanted the look of stone masonry without the maintenance,” says Angela Arndt, CSI, Metal-Era’s marketing manager. Compared to real stone, the aluminum Stone-Look Coping offers significant savings both in labor and materials. To achieve these one-of-a-kind spattercoat finishes that offer multi-color, depth, and texture, Linetec utilizes Kynar 500® Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) resin based paints. “Kynar paint has been the proven mainstay in the architectural market for decades,” says Linetec’s senior marketing specialist, Tammy Schroeder, LEED® Green Associate. “Some of the solvents used in liquid paints include volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which have been known as a contributor to ozone depletion. At Linetec, we safely and efficiently capture and destroy the VOCs at the factory, before the material arrives on the building site.”

While Washington Christian Academy did not pursue a formal certification for sustainable design, green building practices were emphasized throughout the project’s development. In addition to environmental responsibility, the team focused on efficient, orderly construction practices to stay on schedule and on budget. “The project featured many valleys, peak and transition miters,” Arndt continues. “The job went very smoothly. Metal-Era helped with a lot of planning prior to the order and made sure everything was labeled properly for ease of installation.” Completed in the summer of 2008, Washington Christian Academy’s 300 students now enjoy a permanent home with a three-story, 35-classroom, academic building and a separate gymnasium facility. The construction schedule spanned 17 months with a contract value estimated at $1.1 million. The completed buildings total 78,271 square feet and are located on 60 acres at the southern border of Olney, Md., on Batchellors Forest Road. Encircled by forest, the rural, private campus is situated within the greater Washington, D.C. area, minutes from the U.S. Capitol.