Tuff Wall panels from Metl-Span allow for flexible design, durable and attractive construction

The growing congregation at the Church of the Harvest in Olathe, Kan., needed to greatly increase its worship capacity, and it was searching for a durable and attractive building. The combination of an engineered metal building from Butler Manufacturing with Tuff Wall panels from Metl-Span met the criteria that made everyone happy.

Hernly Associates Inc., of Lawrence, Kan., worked as a subcontractor design firm with Strickland Construction Company of Olathe on the Church of the Harvest project. Mike Myers, AIA, project architect with Hernly Associates, says Tuff Wall provided the look and durability the congregation desired and allowed him plenty of design freedom.

“Versatility is the biggest thing for us,” Myers says. “It’s a very cost-effective method to construct an airtight building envelope. It allows us to add or subtract to it rather easily. We can put a hole in it for a window. And it all attaches right to the metal building framing structure. The thing I like about it is, when it’s installed, it’s pretty monolithic. It’s a different look for someone who doesn’t want ribbed metal panels, but you can still add ribbed metal panels as an accent.”

Tuff Wall is an attractive stucco-like insulated wall panel that provides the exterior masonry look some designers and end customers desire. The exterior surface of the panel, applied at the factory, is a hard aggregated fiber-reinforced polymer coating called Tuff Cote. The finish offers a durable, impact- and abrasion-resistant coating that withstands harsh weather conditions.

For the Church of the Harvest project, 11,626 square feet of 42-inch wide Surrey Beige Tuff Wall panels were installed on the building, in a two-inch thickness, to attain the desired R-value. Surrey Beige is one of seven colors offered by Metl-Span for Tuff Wall. The new addition measures 19,397 square feet.

Tuff Wall is fastened to the Butler Building framing. Butler’s VSR architectural metal roofing was installed on the entrance tower and on the sloped roof facing the primary road, while Butler’s MR24 was installed on the low-slope, less visible areas.

“We like working with Tuff Wall because it’s the quickest way to dry-in a building,” says Jason Butcher, estimator for Strickland Construction Company. “It’s a low-maintenance, energy-efficient solution. That’s why we like to go to market with it.”

Butcher says the feedback he receives from Strickland crews installing Tuff Wall is that it’s the most consistent insulated metal panel product they’ve worked with.

“Other products lack consistency in manufacturing,” he says. “Plus we’re able to dress it up if that’s what the customer wants.”

Butcher says the interior surface finish of Tuff Wall was “finished enough” for certain areas of the addition, like back stage or in storage areas and in some areas pegged for future use. “Every church has a budget and every congregation has desires,” Butcher says. “Tuff Wall is the easiest way to bring those two together. Every time we have to put up a stud wall and finish the interior, it costs money. With a semi-finished interior like Tuff Wall, we can put that money back into the customer’s pocket.”