Prescribed roofing

Founded in 1878 by a group of missionaries, Duquesne University in Pittsburgh consistently is ranked among the top U.S. Catholic universities. With nearly 8,200 graduate and undergraduate students, Duquesne University prepares students by having them work alongside faculty to discover and reach their goals. The university’s academic programs, community service, and commitment to equity and opportunity in the Pittsburgh area have earned the school national acclaim.

In 2019, the university announced a bold plan to build a college of medicine, the school’s first new college in more than 20 years and the largest initiative undertaken by Duquesne University. The state-of-the-art, 80,000-square-foot College of Osteopathic Medicine broke ground in 2022.

Kalkreuth Roofing and Sheet Metal Inc., Wheeling, W.Va., was invited by the general contractor, Rycon Construction Inc., Pittsburgh, to bid on the project and subsequently was selected as the contractor to install the building’s EPDM membrane roof and exterior metal wall panels.

Prep work

In November 2022, the Kalkreuth Roofing and Sheet Metal team began work on Duquesne University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. The crew’s scope of work consisted of installing a 17,500-square-foot EPDM membrane roof system and a metal wall panel system on the building’s exterior.

“Rycon Construction started working with the Kalkreuth Roofing team right away to manufacture the metal wall panels for the project,” says Phil Marraway, project executive for Rycon Construction. “Having worked closely with Kalkreuth Roofing, I believe its client service, project execution and craftsmanship were exceptional on this project.”

Getting materials to the site was a standard procedure, but storing them was tricky.

“The location made the site tight, so we couldn’t store anything on the ground,” says Chase Harvey, project manager for Kalkreuth Roofing and Sheet Metal. “We used a crane to transport all materials to the roof.”

To prepare for roofing work, the crew set up warning lines along the roof perimeter and tied-off workers to Raptor mobile fall-protection carts while working near the roof’s edge.

Installation

The eight-person roofing crew fastened 1/2-inch Georgia-Pacific DensDeck® Roof Boards to the steel roof deck using heavy-duty fasteners followed by Johns Manville self-adhering, fiberglass-reinforced JM Vapor Barrier SAR.

Next, the team adhered Johns Manville ENRGY 3® tapered polyisocyanurate insulation with low-rise polyurethane foam adhesive followed by another layer of 1/2-inch Georgia-Pacific DensDeck® Roof Boards also adhered with low-rise polyurethane foam adhesive.

To complete the roof system, workers applied self-adhering Johns Manville EPDM FIT SA 90-mil black membrane on top of the roof boards.

For the building’s exterior metal panel system, the six-person team installed 14,200 square feet of CENTRIA® Formawall Dimension Series® insulated metal panels in bronze gold, chromium gray and metallic copper.

“Some of the unique features of this project included making the insulation boards around the roof edge all the same height to ensure a flush installation at the top of the metal panel system,” Harvey says.

In addition, roofing crew members installed 7,400 square feet of CENTRIA Intercept+™ rainscreen metal panels, 3,400 square feet of CENTRIA Versawall® commercial wall panels and CENTRIA CS screen wall louvers.

Challenges

Most of the challenges on the project were encountered during the metal wall panel installation.

“The horizontal joints had to line up with the window headers, so precision and planning were needed to ensure they were installed correctly,” Harvey says. “Also, an expansion joint had to be installed at every floor line in the foam panels because expansion was not accounted for in the framing system. Fortunately, CENTRIA provided a custom detail for this building; that detail is now part of their product line.”

As with most new construction projects, more challenges popped up.

The college is located in an urban area that required phased-in logistical planning and deliveries; the project also depended on coordination with city public works and the university to safely construct the facility while minimizing disruptions to faculty, students, and vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

“With these concerns in mind, the Kalkreuth Roofing team delivered on time and with excellent attention to detail,” Marraway says. “Specifically, the metal wall panels fabricated and installed by the Kalkreuth Roofing team passed inspection with no punch list.”

A successful operation

In July 2023, the Kalkreuth Roofing and Sheet Metal team completed work on Duquesne University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. Although the roofing portion took longer than anticipated because of unforeseen schedule constraints, the project was successfully completed on time.

Click here to view a virtual tour of Duquesne University’s College of Medicine.

“The most rewarding part of working on the college of medicine is knowing our contribution supports the advancement of medical education and helps shape the future of healthcare professionals,” Harvey says.

During the college of medicine’s first fall semester, Duquesne University enrolled an inaugural class of more than 80 medical students. The following July, the college enrolled 85 students, with the plan to grow annual enrollment to 170 students per year beginning in 2026.

“Rycon Construction is grateful to Kalkreuth Roofing for its outstanding workmanship on this roof and overall project management,” Marraway says. “The team provided exceptional client service when executing the construction of the roof and a stellar metal wall panel project.”

Photos courtesy of Rycon Construction Inc., Pittsburgh, and Duquesne University, Pittsburgh.

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