An Iconic Roof on an Iconic Building The Studio Building in Portland, OR, was built in 1926 and featured 128 rehearsal studios for musicians and actors. The Guild Theater next door was the original performance space for aspiring stars who practiced at the Studio. Today, the ground floor features a local dining favorite, Pastini, with eight floors of office space above.

Over the years, the existing copper panel roof system had failed due to age and had been leaking for some time. Harder Mechanical Contractors was selected to fabricate new, 20-ounce copper panels that closely replicated the existing historical design while fixing the water penetration issues. The original downspouts were internal and undersized for current rainfall conditions and had caused extensive internal damage over the years. Harder was able to connect all four elevations together for drainage and reroute water to drain to the North side of the building where downspouts could be cleaned out and better maintained.

As part of the fabrication process, Harder had a custom mill run of copper in the sizes we needed to produce the best possible use of sheet sizes and have almost zero waste. This also helped guarantee we would have material in a volatile market. Installation was difficult due to the time of year, coordination with the demo subcontractor, the building being occupied, pedestrian traffic below, and the shape/age of the building. We were able to obtain the original blueprints for the project, which helped us locate the heavy swing stages on the roof safely. The swings stages were designed on towers and were sloped away from the building so they could slide out and get past the dormers for access.

The final product not only addressed and fixed issues with the previous roof system, but provided an aesthetically appealing update to an almost 100-year-old building which will only look better and better with age.