Hospitality & Entertainment Facilities

Wurstfest, New Braunfels, Texas

RETROFIT TEAM

ARCHITECT: MarmonMok Architecture

IMP INSTALLER: Earnest Roofing, (512) 766-7663

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Byrne Construction Services

CONSULTANT: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc.

MATERIALS

Wurstfest is a popular annual celebration of German culture. Just days after the successful November 2019 event wrapped, a fire damaged the 27,000-square-foot facility that hosts the 10-day festival. With less than a year to reconstruct the facility for the 60th annual event in November 2020, there was no time to waste.

Because there was a deadline to meet, insulated metal panels (IMPs) from Metl-Span were specified. “We went with insulated metal panels on this project because it was just easier and quicker than installing insulation and a single skin panel,” says Kevin McClellan, AIA, RID, senior associate at MarmonMok Architecture.

Soffits and roof ventilation at the peak had been boarded up, reducing airflow in an attempt to keep the building warmer for the November event. However, the roof batten insulation was damaged by decay over the years because of condensing moisture from the crowds. This issue is eliminated by the use of the IMPs, which are sandwiched 2-inch urethane core metal panels.

Mitch Schuetz, director of commercial production at Earnest Roofing, says his firm was able to use most of the steel purlins left in place after the fire, but approximately 25 percent had to be replaced because the fire’s heat had melted the steel. After the damaged purlins were replaced, the Earnest Roofing crew started installing the insulated metal panels, some as long as 41 feet on the 11:12 slope. The cupola roofing section at the peak has a 6:12 slope.

A boom lift inside the building lifted crew members to where panels were being installed. Schuetz explains: “From there, they would climb out on the purlins and be in position to put each panel in place. We used a CladBoy vacuum lift for the panels to get them into place. The longest panels weighed about 350 pounds. We had six guys outside in position to guide the panels into place. It really was fun watching this all come together—even better than we had hoped.”

Earnest Roofing installed more than 40,300 square feet of 2-inch thick CFR42 panels. The exterior panels are 24-gauge Galvalume coated with a premium silicone polyester in Koko Brown. The interior panels
are 26-gauge Galvalume coated with polyester coating in Igloo White, which Wurstfest chose to paint Turkish Coffee to match the project’s color scheme.

Metl-Span CF42 panels were installed as 3-foot-wide wall panels on each side of the building. Almost 3,500 square feet of the 2-inch CF42 panels were installed in the same Koko Brown as the roof. Between each panel is a 3-foot-wide louver, fabricated by Earnest Roofing.

Construction was on schedule so the 2020 event could be held but, because of COVID-19, the event was canceled. The new facility is ready for the 2021 Wurstfest, however. Schuetz, who can trace his ancestry to the Wurstfest founders, says he was personally invested in the project. “From Austin to San Antonio, people know that Wurstfest is a big deal,” he says. “I’ve been going for years and I’ll be able to take my kids and grandkids and tell them I had a part in rebuilding what will stand there for a long, long time.”

INSULATED METAL PANELS: Metl-Span

PHOTO: Metl-Span