When designing Western Village in St. Paul, Minn., a small retail center for the Hmong community, the owner, Uni-West Partners LLC, St. Paul, wanted to use design accents that would reflect the Asian roots of the center. The owners liked the way a metal tile facsimile roof by Met-Tile Inc., Ontario, Calif., on a nearby Hoa Bien Restaurant mimicked the look of Asian tile.
Busch Architects Inc., St. Paul, worked with the owners and decided to use Met-Tile canopies over the center’s entrance ways. There are three panel canopies, each with a curving slope that reflects the pagoda-style roofing popular in the Hmong culture. The Met-Tile panels are installed on wood-framed canopies with 3/4-inch (19-mm) plywood and #30 felt underlayment with 2- by 10-inch (51- by 254-mm) stained wood fascia and PVC-vented soffit material. Entrance lighting is integrated into the bottom of the canopies.
According to the roofing installer, K.F. Loosen Construction, Cloquet, Minn., the building team looked at other metal tile products but decided on Met-Tile because its Spanish ridge/hip/gable accessory and matching end caps offered better aesthetics and installation flexibility.
The project utilized approximately 540 square feet (50 m2) of 5-foot (2-m) long, 26-gauge Met-Tile steel panels finished in Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based Becker Specialty Corp.’s Super 4800 SMP in Morocco Red.
Completed in May, the retail center houses a credit union, deli and adult day care facility for the Hmong community. Dew Corp., North St. Paul, Minn., was the general contractor.
Becker Specialty Corp.
Met-Tile Inc.
