Residential construction starts have been off throughout 2007, totaling less than 1.5 million each month through May, well behind the 1.63 million averaged in the second half of 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The numbers are better in non-residential spending, but still down. Through the first five months of 2007, commercial construction declined 3.9 percent from the same period in 2006.
Architectural metal products include a wide range of railings, screens, expanded and perforated panels, profiles, shapes, tubing, bars and assorted ornamental design elements, as well as structural components and metal roofs found on various commercial buildings. They may be made of carbon steel, aluminum, copper and brass or stainless steel. Metals’ increasing popularity among architects is not surprising, as it continues a trend that began in Europe a decade ago.
“The market seems to be strong, especially in bronze, nickel/silver and stainless,” says Joanne Blum, president of Julius Blum & Co., a Woodridge, N.J.-based distributor that specializes in stocking metals for architectural projects. “Demand continues to be strong in all markets.”
Jim Quinn, corporate product director of Alabama Metal Industries Corp., Birmingham, Ala., says his company has seen a modest, though not unexpected, decline from 2006. “The industrial end is good, but the housing sector has slowed. Last year was one of the best years for the company, and you just don’t repeat that every year,” says Quinn, whose company supplies expanded metal and bar grating, primarily to service centers.
Most architectural metal applications are found in non-residential projects such as government buildings, schools, transportation facilities, corporate offices, hotels and shopping centers. On the residential side, ornamental metal tends to be used mostly in high-end construction.
Even if the construction market dips, suppliers say, the growing appeal of stainless, copper and other finishes will allow architectural metals to take market share from other materials.
“Overall in the steel market, we’ve found business conditions to be favorable, and that is true in the aesthetic area,” says Bill Tuxhorn, vice president of marketing for the McNichols Co., Tampa, Fla. “Architects are looking for new, innovative looks, functionality and sustainable materials. Our products can be very cost-effective, as well as having the look they want.”
To meet the special needs of architects and specifiers, McNichols formed a separate division earlier this year—McNichols Designer Metals—and is in the process of integrating the division into all its locations (see sidebar).
“It’s a part of our customer population that is growing, and we wanted to give them the best possible customer service experience,” says Herb Goetschius, president and chief operating officer at McNichols.
Dealing with architects can be a new challenge for metals companies, admits Mike Fernie, vice president of operations for Fisher & Ludlow, Burlington, Ontario. “Instead of waiting for the product to be specified, you’re trying to get the product specified,” says Fernie, who serves as president of the Expanded Metals Manufacturing Association. “You want to get the product in the architect’s face early on and tell them this is a good alternative to perforated metals or other products.”
In the last two years, EMMA has embarked on a major marketing endeavor to extol the benefits of its product, with architects among the targeted recipients of its message. Expanded metal panels are formed by slitting and stretching metal sheets, which produces no scrap, as opposed to perforated panels that are made by punching holes in metal sheets. EMMA is particularly intent on making inroads in the fencing market.
“In residential, there are gains to be made in fencing,” says Fernie. “By powder coating it, you can paint it different colors. You can make it look appealing.”
But the greater selling point is expanded metal’s effectiveness as a barrier. EMMA points to tests that demonstrate it is more secure than other types of fencing. EMMA members are confident that today’s growing emphasis on safety and security in commercial building design will help them make gains in the market.
Norman Lazarus, senior vice president at Houston-based National Bronze and Metals Inc., says architectural metals represent a small but growing part of his business. Many of the newer applications of the company’s bronzes have been in safety-related projects.
In some cases, windows on government buildings are being updated to handle bombproof or shatterproof glass, and bronze is a preferred material for window frames. In other instances, urban areas are installing sidewalk bollards to prevent vehicles from hopping curbs and driving into buildings. There, bronze castings are slipped over steel casings on top of concrete posts. The bronze castings maintain the dual function of being more visually appealing while also withstanding salts and other materials used on the streets.
In both situations, architects and engineers are focused on security issues. “There’s been a strong growth in that area the last three or four years,” Lazarus says.
Stainless steel, in particular, has enjoyed a growing presence in architectural applications, notably in large-scale projects such as airports and office buildings. Stainless appeals to architects for both aesthetic and life-cycle reasons. Its attractiveness is well established, but its more practical benefits are just being realized.
“Our view is that the use of stainless steel in architectural and building construction will grow at a pace at least equal to the overall growth of stainless steel, which is about 5 to 6 percent,” says Chuck Turack, vice president and general manager of coil products for Outokumpu Stainless Inc., Schaumburg, Ill. “It will actually grow at a faster clip than that in many regions of the world.”
Turack says a region’s likelihood of adopting stainless depends on that culture’s tendency to put more emphasis on long-term value over short-term costs. North America, historically, is a short-term, cost-conscious culture, though Turack sees improvement on that front. “It’s better now than it was 10 years ago, and it will be better in five years than it is today,” he says.
Stainless has made progress in some areas, particularly coastal regions where the atmosphere tends to be more corrosive than inland. Stainless is also valuable in areas where buildings are exposed to winter deicing products, in environments with industrial and urban pollution and, significantly, in areas where an environmentally friendly material is desired.
The increased demand for “green” building products is one of the biggest causes for optimism among architectural metals producers and distributors.
“We are one of many companies that is beginning to make [environmental friendliness] part of the discussion of our cost-benefit relationship,” Turack says. “We’re confident it will be a significant part of the value proposition that stainless steel brings to these applications.”
The same is true of steel products, Goetschius says. Metals get high marks from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a program operated by the United States Green Building Council. “Our products are looked at favorably within the LEED program because of their longer sustainability and recyclable attributes,” he adds.
In many locations, architects may have financial incentives to consider the environmental properties of the materials they specify. Some of the demand is also driven by builders “going green.”
“A lot of architects and designers are trying to be more green in their designs, and the recyclability of metal hits that need very well,” Goetschius says. “It’s a sense of responsibility.”
Expanded and perforated metal panels are also useful in providing shading, allowing air flow and controlling heat, all elements that contribute to more comfortable and environmentally friendly working conditions.
“With the prominence and awareness of global warming, more people, including architects, specifiers and consumers, are becoming aware of the environment and more attracted to environmentally sensitive products,” Goetschius says.
Moreover, environmental awareness is less likely to go out of style than building trends based solely on aesthetics, executives say.
Hole Company Creates Whole Division
to Serve Architectural Customers
The McNichols Co. has long been a distributor of metals with holes (perforated and expanded metal, wire mesh, and gratings) to the architectural market. Earlier this year, however, the company reinforced its commitment to the sector by establishing a separate division, McNichols' Designer Metals, to address the special needs of architects and specifiers.
"We formed this group to deliver a better experience to these customers," says Herb Goetschius, president and chief operating officer of the Tampa, Fla.-based McNichols.
Architects are not like typical customers, such as fabricators, that the sales staff at McNichols handles on a daily basis. The average customer buys material off the shelf to meet his immediate needs. Architects, in contrast, tend to be involved with complex, long-term projects. McNichols’ new division will allow its Designer Metals sales staff to spend more time with the architect, following him or her through the life of the project. “They just need a little more attention than the typical steel customer,” Goetschius says.
Likewise, the company's architectural customers have a different set of priorities in mind when choosing materials. Whereas some customers look strictly at the performance characteristics of the metal, architects and designers focus on aesthetic appeal as well as performance. McNichols' sales staff is being trained to help architects choose the right material to meet both the aesthetic and functional needs of each project.
“They’re even going to help designers come up with projects,” says Bill Tuxhorn, director of marketing “They’ll give them options.”
In conjunction with the Designer Metals division, which will be integrated into each of the company’s locations across the country, McNichols is modifying its marketing approach. The company has already created one new brochure, “Beauty Behind Our Metals,” and is working on a second. The brochures highlight the company’s line of perforated and expanded panels and mesh wire.
“Architects are visual people,” says Steve Wilcher, architectural marketing manager. “This material is designed to help them visualize different product choices for the projects they’re working on. We have many different products that can potentially fit their application.”
