Landmark Venue Renovated with PPG Coating Wins MCA Chairman’s Award

The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., which features PPG DURABRITE coating, has won a Chairman’s Award for design excellence from the Metal Construction Association (MCA), PPG said.

Built in 1972 and once home to the NHL’s New York Islanders and the NBA’s New York Nets, the 416,000 square-foot arena is newly wrapped in a futuristic metal shell composed of 4,700 individually folded and routed brushed aluminum fins enhanced by PPG Durabrite clear fluoropolymer coating.

Based on high-performance fluoroethylene vinyl ether (FEVE) resins, PPG Durabrite coating is a direct-to-metal product specially formulated to extend and enrich the beauty of architectural metals by protecting them with a resilient, transparent clearcoat.

The aluminum fins were fabricated by Sobotec Ltd. of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, using 225,000 square feet of 4-millimeter ALUCOBOND PLUS aluminum composite material from 3A Composite USA in Davidson, N.C.

The fins are anchored to the structure’s original concrete exterior via a custom-engineered structural attachment system by Sobotec. Using that system, Crown Corr, Inc., of Gary, Ind., fitted the Alucobond fins into pre-fabricated metal frames and attached them to the building, which was painted black to emphasize the muted glow of the brushed aluminum.

MCA judge Mark Dewalt said he appreciated the unique approach ShoP Architects and developer Forest City Ratner took to revive the building, which likely would have been torn down if not for the firms’ innovative design solution.

“I thought it was a pretty interesting recladding – [a metal] screen wrapped around the existing building,” he said. “It’s very dynamic, creating a lot of movement. It’s like a giant slinky.”

The annual Chairman’s Awards recognize exceptional building projects involving MCA members. The awards are based on overall appearance, the significance of metal in the project, innovative use of metal and the role of metal in achieving project objectives.