To say Galvion produces glasses would not do the company justice. Galvion “utilizes a robust design to deliver protective eyewear solutions that save lives” for use by the military and law enforcement. The company’s new manufacturing and office facility in Portsmouth, N.H., constructed with insulated metal panels from Metl-Span, reflects that bold and durable design.

“The goal was to ensure consistency with the branding of Galvion products,” says Mallory Mae Conway, Architect, Director for Jodoin, Lamarre, Pratte Architects Inc. in Montreal. “Galvion is focused on its eyewear line, so the insulated metal panels and aluminum composite material (ACM) helped us achieve a contemporary look; the panels are very smooth, as opposed to the rough finish of a concrete or stucco material.”

Conway says the front of the building contains a crease in the metal to represent the folded elements consistent with the company’s branding. “The availability of bright green and the grays for the metal panels allowed us to easily match the corporate colors,” she says. “You can’t do that with other materials.”

Seacoast Crane & Building Company of Kittery, Maine, installed the insulated metal panels and the ACM that make up the colorful façade of the Galvion building.

“We’ve been doing more and more work with insulated metal panels the last 4-5 years,” says Bill Belanger, project manager at Seacoast Crane & Building. “Up here in New England, it’s become a trend; there are a lot of large warehouse-type buildings. I think the growing popularity of insulated metal panels has a lot to do with the energy codes. Insulated metal panels allow you to achieve almost any R-value you want.”

The insulated metal panels for the Galvion project were in two colors, Silver Metallic (14,767 square feet) and Dark Gray Metallic (5,608 square feet). Some were installed horizontally and some vertically. Metl-Span’s CF36 panels all featured a striated finish on the 22-gauge Galvalume exterior panels and a Light Mesa, Igloo White finish on the 26-gauge Galvalume interior panels. All IMPs had a 3-inch urethane core. Approximately 1,250 square feet of ACM panels, manufactured by CEI Materials of Manchester, Mich., were used in two colors: bright green and charcoal gray.

The unique front façade challenged Belanger’s crew. “The front of the building is two angled walls that come to a point,” Belanger says. “We worked out the details beforehand with help from Metl-Span, so it all worked out.”

Belanger says Seacoast recently purchased vacuum equipment to help lift panels into place and it has paid for itself in just a handful of jobs. Without the vacuum, he’d have to have 2-3 more crewmembers on the ground to help get the panels in place. “I think it’s a cool looking building … the metallic colors of the insulated metal panels along with the black and bright green ACM; it’s one-of-a-kind.”

Market Square Architects of Portsmouth served as the U.S. architect of record. Project architect Christina O’Brien was onsite for several meetings to ensure the design was carried out the way it was intended. “There were a lot of meetings, a lot of back and forth; it was one of those projects that required a lot of teamwork,” O’Brien says. “When it was coming together, we could see this was going to be a cool building. The Metl-Span panels were a great fit for color and they helped us achieve the desired R-value of 20.5.”