Chicago is more than windy. It’s a city with freeze-thaw weather cycles so harsh, it can weaken or destroy most roofs within a decade or two. Barry O’Quinn, senior manager in charge of building envelope projects at University of Chicago, had the foresight to know the correct roof tiles could restore campus aesthetics while saving the university millions.
The University of Chicago, founded in 1890, has evolved from a compact quadrangle on the Midway Plaisance into an expanded community of 28,000 people who study, work and live on a campus that covers 217 acres of land. Populating the campus are over 170 buildings in various styles, designed by several prominent architects of their day, including original architects Henry Ives Cobb, Holabird & Roche, Eero Saarinen, Edward Durell Stone, Cesar Pelli & Associates, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Rafael Viñoly, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
With preservation in mind, the university created a master plan for extensive building reconstruction and maintenance over time, including roof renovations on its existing structures. Beginning the process, an independent building consultant specializing in design review and the senior manager of building envelope and campus trade shops quickly discovered that the original campus roof tile was manufactured by New Lexington, Ohio-based clay roof tile manufacturer Ludowici.
100 Years of Terra-Cotta Roofs
The university first had the terra-cotta on its roofs (installed by Ludowici) 100 years ago, and they continued to hold up a century later. However, their underlayment was failing and allowing water to seep into buildings across campus.
A dollars-and-cents presentation to university leadership made it clear: an investment in campus-wide re-roofing with Ludowici tile could eliminate the expensive maintenance costs that plagued each one-off roof repair made with cheaper materials. As Barry pointed out, the original Ludowici campus roofs had been durable enough to withstand nearly 100 years of snow, ice, moisture and wind. New Ludowici tile would do the same.
Don Kilpatrick, associate and senior consultant at Milwaukee-based Inspec Inc., an engineering and building consulting firm that worked on the project, had previously worked in the steep sloped roof rehabilitations on the campus in 2001. He says, “At that time, the number of vintage structures on campus that had original flat slab clay was in the range of 20-30, with most being characterized as liabilities. Organic underlay materials had the lighter oils and saturants essentially ‘cooked’ out the organic mat, leaving behind dusty remnants of ply felt. Additionally, at an average age of 85 to 120 years the accessory architectural sheet metal counter flashings and gutters also had migrated to the liability side of the condition indices. Combined, the above conditions left several once-viable classrooms and offices uninhabitable for the short-term, triggering O’Quinn’s quest for an aggressive 20-year plus, significant investment in new roof systems for the steep inventory that is central to the main quad of the campus.”
With a master plan in place, the University of Chicago roofing project could be streamlined. Multiple roof tile mock-ups were placed along the natural sight line with each roof’s pitch to test the visual appearance and performance against Chicago’s inclement weather. Ludowici’s durable, Grade 1-rated tile with less than one percent water absorption proved resistant to Chicago’s harsh and changing climate. The university ultimately chose Ludowici’s Classic 14 interlocking tile in clay red.
“Central to the program objectives were to always honor the work by those that came before us, preservation of the original design intent or replacement in kind,” Kilpatrick adds. “In the presence of adequate funding, and based on present day condition, the work scope on several of the buildings in the queue was expanded to minimally include masonry and stone cladding repairs near and above roof line.”
This single tile profile and color was used across campus to match its English Gothic architecture. Tile ordered in mass quantity was a better value and any attic stock could be rolled into subsequent roofs. Contractors, locked in for the long-term, provided a dependable, skilled workforce that became more efficient over time. Plus, an investment in a full-time installation inspector more than paid for itself. The inspector’s oversite ensured elements like flashing, underlayment and gutters were installed precisely to spec. This all-natural color serves as the perfect complement to the many building styles on campus and the tile can hold up against the cold Chicago winters for next 100 years.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Information provided by Ludowici, and Inspec Inc. For more information, go to ludowici.com and inspec.com.
TEAM
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEER: ZS Architectural Engineering, Milwaukee, zsllc-us.com
CONTRACTOR: Jones & Cleary Roofing and Sheet Metal, Chicago, jonesandcleary.com
CONTRACTOR: Knickerbocker Roofing and Paving, Harvey, Illinois, knickroof.com
ENGINEER AND CONSULTANT: Inspec Inc., Milwaukee, inspec.com
MATERIALS
ROOFING TILES: Classic 14 interlocking tile in clay red, Ludowici, ludowici.com
