The Frank H. Mazza Pavilion is a senior living community in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that includes 30 apartments, a private outdoor courtyard and communal space in the main lobby area. This facility was designed to improve the quality of life for its senior citizen and disabled residents. The building’s exterior, highlighted by products from CENTRIA, was designed to blend with its surrounding neighborhood.

In 2008, it was discovered that a mold problem threatened the safety of the apartments and tenants. The fate of the building was in the balance for more than a year while the City of Pittsburgh’s housing authority searched for a solution. In February 2010, money was allocated for a complete renovation of the structure. By August 2010, the building was stripped to its steel frame and was rebuilt from the ground up.

A major design goal of the Frank H. Mazza retrofit was community integration. The building team redesigned the facility specifically to blend with the existing Brookline neighborhood of Pittsburgh, while at the same time keeping with the city’s goal to modernize public housing. Metal offered the perfect solution for combining these goals.

CENTRIA’s Formawall Dimension Series provides both advanced thermal efficiency and moisture control in a single panelized component. Nearly 14,000 square feet of CENTRIA Formawall Dimension Series panels covered the exterior of the four-story building. This metal panel is manufactured as one component, minimizing insulation gaps. Manufactured with CENTRIA’s Advanced Thermal and Moisture Protection (ATMP®) technology, Formawall Dimension Series provided optimal thermal performance while protecting against water infiltration, a key goal of the Mazza Pavilion building team.

With a wide range of lengths, thicknesses, reveals, colors, finishes, and profiles, Formawall Dimension Series offers virtually unlimited aesthetic possibilities. This flexibility was essential to the Mazza Pavilion project, as seamless community integration with a modern edge was the design team’s main goal.