Las Vegas Neighborhood Brightens Up with Metal

Photo by Alan Blakely

Think of Las Vegas and your mind most likely conjures visions of tourist destinations along Las Vegas Boulevard – aka "The Strip." But year-round residents to the booming city aren't necessarily drawn to the casinos that attract tourists from around the globe. That's why planners are developing a new neighborhood around a former railyard now transformed into a park – home to a performing arts center, a children's museum and a major medical facility – and are encouraging residential development in the surrounding area.

A new 290-unit apartment building called Parc Haven Apartments is one of the standout additions. It features industrial-style metal cladding that references the train tracks it adjoins, along with colorful metal panel highlights that nod to the park's signature sculpture sited directly across the street. Named Symphony Park in honor of the Smith Center of the Performing arts, which opened its doors in 2012, the 61-acre grounds also include the Cleveland Clinic's Frank Gehry-designed Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and the Discovery Children's Museum. And, Tim Bavington's Pipe Dream sculpture – a visual depiction of composer Aaron Copeland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" – anchors an outdoor stage at the park's eastern end.

The Parc Haven Apartments was one of the first residential additions to the neighborhood, opening its doors in May 2021. Designers with CallisonRTKL's Dallas office looked to surrounding activities to inspire the exterior's appearance. "This site is against railroad tracks and is also adjacent to the symphony center," said Tom Brink, AIA, a principal with the firm. "We were trying to merge this cultural and rail environment."

Working with local installer TLC Roof Services, the design team opted for a series of profiles from Petersen's PAC-CLAD lineup to supply most of the metal panels used for the project. Leading this list, 12,000 sq. ft. of the company's 24-gauge steel Highline B2 panel in Musket Gray were selected as wall cladding for much of the building's exterior – the panel's corrugated appearance can help add a dash of industrial chic to a façade.

Visual punch is provided through the 500 sq. ft. of Flush Panels in multiple hues approximating those in the Bavington sculpture placed in a seemingly random pattern around several exterior elevations. An additional 14,400 sq. ft. of perforated 7.2 Panels in .032-gauge aluminum, also in multiple shades, now screen the parking garage, and 1,000 sq. ft. of Snap-Clad standing-seam roof panels top pop-out elements incorporated to break up the linearity of the long façade.

The job presented challenges for TLC's installation pros, according to company president Todd Roberts. "It was a pretty extensive project," he said. "There were a lot of details involved – it was pretty intricate." Beyond the detailing of the various metal elements, the TLC team also was working with a tight construction schedule and a busy urban location. "We had to deal with the challenges of traffic going by and we had to do a lot of maneuvering of the booms," he said. "Every trade was on top of each other."

The apartment complex has proven to be a popular addition to the new Symphony Park neighborhood, Brink says. "The client is thrilled – the rents are higher than anticipated," he said. "The city had been working on Symphony Park for 20 years, so to see this building come to fruition and have an elevated position with the design materials – the owner, the city and the residents are very excited about it."

TLC Roof Service's team is equally pleased with their role in the project. "I’m thoroughly pleased with it," Roberts said. "It's one of the properties that stands out in Las Vegas. I would say it's one of the buildings that pops the most, in terms of looks. It's definitely something we’re proud of."

Petersen, a Carlisle company, manufactures PAC-CLAD architectural metal cladding systems in multiple gauges of steel and aluminum. PAC-CLAD products include hidden- and exposed-fastener wall panels, standing seam roof panels, flush- and reveal-joint wall panels, vented or solid soffit panels, perforated metal, coil and flat sheet, composite panels, column covers, plus fascia and coping. All are available in a Kynar-based 70% PVDF Fluropon coating in 46 standard colors and 16 wood grain finishes that include a 30-year finish warranty. Most colors meet LEED requirements and are rated by the Cool Roof Rating Council. Custom colors and weathertightness warranties are offered. BIM and CAD documents are available for most products. Founded in 1965, Petersen's facilities are located in Illinois, Georgia, Texas, Maryland, Arizona and Minnesota. For information on the complete line of Petersen's PAC-CLAD metal products call 800-PAC-CLAD, visit pac-clad.com or write to [email protected].