Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, caught the eye of the architectural community back in 1999, ranking its central campus on the national landscape architects’ “Centennial List of Great Sites.” But it’s the Cyclones’ southeast campus that has had the community buzzing since April 2004.
When plans were drawn up for a new 92,000-square-foot southeast campus training facility to be constructed over the Cyclones’ existing practice field, architect RDG Bussard Dikis included a unique 500-foot exterior skeleton in the design.
“The skeleton was designed to allow for all facility support to come from the exterior,” said Tnemec coating consultant Kevin Greteman. “It was placed over the top of the metal skin dome roof, about 100 feet up.”
As the construction began, Greteman knew that, realistically, there would be only one opportunity to coat the exterior skeleton. Once in place, an additional topcoat could be applied, of course, but the process would prove costly. The architects selected Series 90-97 Tneme-Zinc, a two-component, moisture cured, zinc-rich aromatic urethane primer, for the exterior structure. Series 73 Endura-Shield, an aliphatic acrylic polyurethane, was roller-applied as the intermediate coat at 2.5 to 3.5 mils DFT. Series 1070 Fluoronar, a fluoropolymer coating that provides outstanding color and gloss retention, was selected as the exterior topcoat.
Greteman noted that this Tnemec coating system was quickly selected as the most effective for this type of structure. “The fluoropolymer is one of the best selections for an exterior design such as this where you only want to have to paint one time. It offers a tremendous lifespan and cost savings.”
Wes Jarnagin, Inc., the painting contractor, applied Series 15 Uni-Bond, a one-coat, rust-inhibitive primer/finish, to the interior overhead at 2.0 – 3.5 mils DFT. With all structural support of the facility being supplied from the exterior, there were no interior columns or pillars required. Just a wide-open turf practice field, newly housed for some Cyclones football!