F.J.A. Christiansen Roofing Co. Inc., a founding branch of Tecta America Corp., completed the installation of a rooftop athletic field installed on top of a 780-car parking facility on the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) campus. Located at the northwest corner of Broadway and Knapp St. in Milwaukee, the field will be used for collegiate soccer and lacrosse and other youth sports. The roof structure will also slow the rate of stormwater runoff and limit the pollutants typically collected on a paved roofing surface.

“This is a very exciting project to be a part of, and one that benefited from Tecta’s experience and expertise with green roofs,” said Doug Biggar, sales manager for Tecta’s F.J.A. Christiansen Roofing Co. “This was a new challenge for us, but after months of research and consulting with Tecta experts from around the country, we engineered the ideal solution for this rooftop playing surface.”

Tecta consulted both the general contractor, Hunzinger Construction Company, and project architects, Uihlein-Wilson Architects, throughout the planning process on the design and components of the nearly 100,000-square-foot roof. The field surface Tecta installed is an Airfield AirDrain for Synthetic Turf surface used by a number of collegiate and professional sports teams, including the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.

“This is a great, low-maintenance surface that drains quickly and gives the athletes a safe playing field,” said Biggar. ”These obviously aren’t typically installed on roofs, so the membrane and insulation underneath required very careful planning.”

Attached to the top of the parking garage is a lightweight, liquid concrete insulation Tecta recommended to give playing field the exact pitch needed for proper draining. Tecta viewed this as an improvement over original plans to install an intricate tapered insulation that the company determined would have been expensive and unlikely to produce the exact curve needed for this installation. A PVC membrane was adhered directly to the insulation, providing a more durable, waterproof solution than the EPDM membrane initially planned.

The parking garage officially opened on August 23.

For more information, visit www.tectaamerica.com.