When architect Brett Zamore was researching steel building systems offering character and flexibility for three buildings at Rockstar Energy Drink Bike Park in Houston, one option stood out: the Versa-Dek® family of dovetail composite architectural roof and floor deck.
“The New Millennium product really caught our eye,” Zamore says. “We wanted to bring in a character that the product offered, and it tied well to the architecture.”
Zamore designed three buildings that serve three distinct purposes at the $25 million BMX park, the largest in the nation. He needed a product that would create a common look across the 23 acres of parkland as well as create open spaces and control acoustics inside the facilities. Versa-Dek® long-span composite floor and acoustical roof deck systems helped him realize his vision.
Versa-Dek® S Acoustical roof deck is featured on the Welcome Center; a BMX Center that features a classroom, office space, concessions area and restrooms; and the BMX Events Center with a second-floor observation deck. Versa-Dek® S long-span composite was used to separate floors in the two-story events center.
The roof deck sits on wood or wide-flange beams arranged to create a 10-foot-by-10-foot grid system. The Versa-Dek® dovetail design gives the roof deck a lineal, plank-like appearance that matches the beams. Zamore also liked how the exposed roof deck was “beautiful” yet suitable for extreme sports.
“At the BMX racing facility, we wanted to express the rawness of the material, which connects to the BMX culture,” he says. “The New Millennium product was a perfect fit for us.”
A different type of look spurred Zamore to seek a product that would create interior open spaces: unobstructed views of the natural landscape as well as track activities. He used the shallow, 2-inch profile of Versa-Dek® S Acoustical to maximize ceiling height while the accompanying Versa-Wedge™ hanger system allowed utilities to be suspended from the ceiling, eliminating the need for bulky mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) support systems.
“By using Versa-Dek®, we were able to avoid using drop ceilings with closed plenum,” says Zamore, who started Brett Zamore Design in 2007. “We could have incorporated a standard drop ceiling, but exposing the buildings’ vital systems and increasing the volume of space created buildings with a life and beauty that express the buildings clearly.”
Versa-Dek® S Acoustical is the thinnest-profile steel roof deck that New Millennium Building Systems offers, but it does not lack strength. In fact, the roof of the BMX Center supports the base of the main track’s starting ramps.
In addition to its attractive appearance and shallow profile, Versa-Dek® S Acoustical reaches noise reduction coefficients of .90 to 1.15, enabling Zamore to alleviate ambient noise in each facility.
“There’s a lot of sound vibration from concrete floors, sheetrock walls, and we needed a way to reduce acoustics,” Zamore says. “The perforated acoustical Versa-Dek® was a perfect solution to helping with our acoustical concerns.”
“This was a unique application,” says Alex Therien, Market Development Manager at New Millennium. “Typically, acoustical deck is reserved for interior, conditioned environments. Due to exterior covered areas requiring noise control, it presented a situation where areas of Versa-Dek® Acoustical are exposed to the ambient air. New Millennium recommended encapsulating the acoustical elements in clear plastic, a means to address Houston’s extreme temperature fluctuations and stifling summer humidity.”
The bike park celebrated its grand opening in August.
Building a better steel experience
