An Artistic EPDM Roof

At ERA, we think of every well-installed roofing system using an EPDM membrane as something of a work of art. But a roof in Grand Rapids, Michigan takes the artistic possibilities of EPDM to a whole new level. The roof of that city’s administration building supports a mural by renowned artist Alexander Calder. The mural was originally painted in 1974, as part of an ongoing effort to add visual interest to Grand Rapid’s downtown, and attract more people to the area. Thirty years later, the aging modified bitumen membrane that served as a sort of canvas for the mural was weathering badly and in need of total replacement.

The challenge: how to repair the roof, replace the original membrane, and – at the same time – preserve the Calder mural. Kevin Clausen of Great Lakes Systems took on the project and developed an innovative approach to repairing the roof, and got the job done in three weeks. You can read about his approach in this month’s Roofing (http://bit.ly/2gS9qOR). We think you’d enjoy reading the article, so we won’t provide you with all the details here. But we can tell you that Clausen turned to EPDM for his reroofing project, because of its cost-effective installation and long-service life of 30 years or more. We are confident, as is he – as are his satisfied clients – that the roof, and its Calder mural, will be looking good and performing well for decades to come.

Louisa Hart