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How to Add Daylight to a Metal Panel Building (Without Slowing Down Construction)
Metal panel buildings are fast and cost-effective—but they’re usually dark. For a 10,000 sq ft expansion, Protocase Inc. needed abundant daylight on an aggressive 10-month timeline, with zero disruption to their booming manufacturing operations. The solution had to deliver metal panel speed with curtain wall daylight—and reduce labour costs in the process.
The General Contractor, Lingan Builders Ltd., and architectural firm, Archibald Fraser, had 10 months to plan, design, and build a high-tech, 10,000 square foot building expansion, with an “as soon as possible” construction start date. At the same time, they had to limit the impact on existing operations to maintain 100% production levels in the original building of a booming manufacturing company working at a 100-year-old former steel plant site.
The building owners liked the simplicity and fast build time of a metal panel building, but they wanted lots of natural daylight in their new expansion. With these pressures mounting, it may not have seemed like an opportune time to pilot a new product. However, the end results can’t be denied—a stunning, energy efficient building with loads of natural daylight PLUS a reduction in construction labour costs.
❌ The Fast-Build Daylight Paradox
This project had all the challenges you can imagine:
- Aggressive 10-Month Timeline: Planned, designed, and built in 10 months with an ASAP start date. Minimal allowance for delays or setbacks—the project needed to come together quickly and cost-effectively.
- Zero Downtime Tolerance: Had to maintain 100% production levels in the existing building during construction. Any disruption would impact a booming manufacturing operation.
- 100-Year-Old Steel Plant Site: Working at a former steel plant site added complexity and constraints.
- Metal Panel Speed vs. Curtain Wall Daylight: Owners liked the simplicity and fast build time of metal panel buildings, but wanted abundant natural daylight. Traditional curtain walls would slow down construction and increase costs.
✓ The Solution: SoleraWall® Insulated Glass Cladding System
Dale Archibald worked with the owners and Lingan Builders Ltd. to find a solution, deciding to integrate SoleraWall® Insulated Glass Cladding system with insulated metal panels to accomplish the look and feel the customer was after.
What is SoleraWall®? It’s a self-supporting, insulated glass cladding system that allows you to mix and match metal panel, vision glass, and translucent engineered light diffusing glass—letting you provide your occupants with views and exceptional natural daylight. The panels can be stacked side by side or laid on top of each other and are installed directly on to the primary structure of the building in a manner that is highly similar to insulated metal panels.
Key Benefits:
- Metal Panel Speed: Installs easily and quickly like metal panels, resulting in reduced onsite labour costs
- R-18 Insulation Value: Delivers exceptional thermal performance without sacrificing daylight
- Mix-and-Match Flexibility: Combine metal panel, vision glass, and translucent glass for design flexibility
- Construction Phase Benefit: Once installed, loads of natural daylight flooded inside the expansion and reduced the need for lighting during the interior construction phases
For this project, a total of 150 SoleraWall® panels (8′ x 3′) were installed within a six-week time frame. The speed and efficient installation of SoleraWall® became apparent on the final week when the entire west wall (150 feet, 63 panels) of the expansion was completed in just 4 days with only 3 people!
The Proof: Reduced Labour Costs, Increased Daylight
The end results speak for themselves—a stunning, efficient building with loads of natural daylight, plus a reduction in construction labour costs. Success can only be measured by happy customers, and 45 Drives, a subsidiary of Protocase Inc., now occupies this beautiful building that is full of natural daylight.
Watch the time-lapse installation video below to see how quickly SoleraWall® goes up, or take a virtual tour with Protocase’s CEO, Steve Lilley, to see the final result:
The Takeaway: Metal Panel Speed + Curtain Wall Daylight
For decades, metal panel buildings meant choosing between speed and daylight. You could have fast construction with dark interiors, or slow construction with abundant daylight. SoleraWall® eliminates that tradeoff.
The Protocase expansion proves that with the right system, you can deliver metal panel speed, curtain wall daylight, and reduced labour costs—all while maintaining R-18 insulation value and zero disruption to existing operations.