It’s been trusted in kitchens and homes since the 1920s, now trust stainless steel to enhance the design of your next commercial building! Stainless steel columns enhance your basic column design and add numerous benefits to any sustainable building design!
Benefits of Stainless Steel in Architecture
Invented in 1913, stainless steel changed the manufacturing, engineering, and architecture industries by providing an innovative and groundbreaking solution for structure design. There are many benefits of stainless steel in architectural design:
Aesthetically-Pleasing
The appeal of a commercial building is what makes people on the street admire and look up in amazement, so it’s not surprising that architects and designers want to use building materials that contribute to the balance, unity, movement, or decoration of the building.
Stainless steel has properties that reflect the natural and artificial light conditions and colors of the surrounding environment. Its optical flatness and controlled deflection combine with surrounding materials, styles and colors to create a classic yet contemporary aesthetic.
With low friction surfaces, stainless steel is a functional and enhancing material and finish to incorporate when designing a building.
Durability and Strength
Aside from design, stainless steel building materials are one of the most environmentally friendly materials. Being corrosion resistant, “stainless steel facades have been known to provide up to 80 years of service life in architectural projects without appearance deterioration or metal replacement.”
Its resistance to corrosion stands for both water stains and rust, even when in a variety of pressures and temperatures. Stainless steel’s durability and strength stands the test of both high and low temperatures, highlighting the potential life cycle cost benefits of choosing such a durable building material to enhance the design of your sustainable building design.
Sustainability
It’s no secret that steel is North America’s #1 recycled material. More steel is recycled in the US every year than paper, plastic, aluminum, and glass combined because steel scrap is 100% recyclable and has an infinite recycling cycle. Steel’s recyclability diverts materials from ending up in landfills and encourages sustainable building design while conserving energy, reducing emissions, and conserving natural resources.
Additionally, the thermal and solar reflective properties of stainless steel allow for energy savings for commercial buildings in cold and hot weather conditions, cutting costs as a result.
Another sustainable benefit of stainless steel is its health rating according to LEED standards and the WELL Building Standard which both “focus on strategies that benefit both the planet and people.”
Stainless steel has no volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions which is ideal for buildings where control of interior air quality is critical. It also doesn’t give bacteria an environment to grow, so it is one of the most hygienic materials you can use. An optimal solution for hospital or healthcare buildings where cleanliness is crucial.
Even the chemicals needed to clean stainless steel aren’t environmentally hazardous or dangerous. Stainless steel keeps environments clean, safe, and healthy.
Fire Trol Stainless Steel Columns as an Innovative Solution
There are tangible and beneficial advantages of using stainless steel in your next commercial building design, and you can start with column design.
Fire Trol stainless steel columns carry the same benefits as our fireproof steel columns, but are finished with the strength and durability of stainless steel. This is important when considering fire resistance and heat protection.
Stainless steel is a fire and oxidation resistive material even at very high temperatures. Its ability to retain strength in the harshest of environments adds to the already durable and fire resistive properties of Fire Trol prefabricated fireproof columns.
Fire Trol columns are UL® rated and labeled for 2, 3, and 4 hours of fire retardation. Our special proprietary fireproofing mixture surrounds strong concrete and durable structural steel to create a high-performing, innovative, and sustainable solution to column design.
Fire Trol stainless steel columns possess many groundbreaking technologies and properties that enhance building design, protect, sustain, and improve safety and health ratings.
Anonymous Hall Renovation at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire recently renovated a vacant 1960s library in the heart of the medical school quad. “Anonymous Hall” is now an admin and social center for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Metrics show that the project is close to a net zero energy use.
Four Fire Trol stainless steel columns are featured on the exterior of the front of the building. The renovation was designed by Leers Weinzapfel Architects and managed by Windover Construction.
Awards:
Chicago Atheneum Green Good Design Award, 2022
WAN Awards Glass in Architecture Finalist, 2021
World Architects Building of the Year Finalist, 2021
Retrofit Metamorphosis Award, First Place in “Addition”, 2021
The Plan Awards – Finalist, Education, 2021
DNA Paris Awards – Winner, Architecture/Educational & Sports, 2021
Sustainability: Target for LEED-Gold
Enhance The Design of Upcoming Projects
Trust in the combination of all the benefits of stainless steel and the durability of Fire Trol prefabricated fireproof columns. Fire Trol stainless steel columns are the building material solution that will enhance the design of your next structure in fire retardance, sustainability, architectural design, and durability and strength.
Our columns are available in a variety of shapes and sizes so you don’t have to compromise on your vision. Take a look at our portfolio and see why architects and engineers are trusting Fire Trol!
