Steel panel and colour design

When it comes time to plan your business’s next facility, the exterior design is more than just materials and design. Choosing the right colour, or combination of colours, is just as important. Fortunately, when you build with affordable and versatile pre-engineered steel buildings, you can choose from a wide selection of colours for your insulated metal panels. These shades can be used in combination with architectural design features, or with other panels, to create patterns and designs that will make your building truly memorable... And create a positive impression that’s so very important.

Add excitement with energetic patterns and highlights

Pre-engineered steel panels are available in a wide choice of colours that can be mixed and matched throughout the exterior of a structure to provide a pop of colour or to highlight architectural features. They can also draw attention to important operational areas (such as entrances, bays, etc.) to improve customer and supplier experience. Steel panels’ versatility of can be used to create dynamic patterns for contrast or more soothing backgrounds to blend in with the building’s natural background environment.

Pre-engineering means every component is customized by colour to create a distinct look. Your building panels, components and trim can match completely or can use complementary shades to highlight features or add a pop of colour for contrast. All materials are made using the same range of colours allowing each piece to fit in cohesively or be customized in unlimited ways. Here’s a few of the steel components that make up the entirety of your pre-engineered building:

You’re not limited to highlights. Summit Steel Buildings’ design team can work with you to come up with a patterned design to make your building stand out from the rest. An entire universe of patterns can be created using pre-engineered steel panels. They can be random, playful or geometric, without any limitations to allow you to showcase your brand or demonstrate an artistic vision. The colours and patterns you choose can be bold as you want, or sometimes chosen to serve a more practical purpose.

Create an inspiring first impression

Outside of London, Ontario lies a gardening supply manufacturing company called FCMP Outdoor that produces composters, rain barrels and planters. Read our case study on the company. Their modern facility, including offices, warehousing and the plastics factory, was built by Summit Steel Buildings in July 2017. It incorporates large windows to create bright working spaces and boasts a three-tone combination of exterior panels to create a modern sophisticated look. The exterior uses an ash grey base with solar white atop a charcoal gray mid-stripe that runs along the entire length of the building to bring down the scale of the building. The original facility is 140’ x 350’ and includes two-floors of office and administration space, manufacturing and storage areas and four loading bays and has since been expanded twice. The building now runs 650' in length and 84,000 in total square feet. The consistent three-tone pattern helps to make the building size a little less overwhelming and more welcoming when trucks pull up to any of the eight docks and loading bays. Instead of being a monolith of monotone neutral shades, the building looks contemporary, sophisticated and representative of the highest quality products created inside.

Steel panels offer distinct advantages over traditional building materials

Businesses of all types have good reason to build using pre-engineered steel panels besides offering a wide choice of signature colours. For instance, metal exterior paneling is manufactured with the shade smelted in rather than being applied after the fact as a coating. This means your bright, playful and welcoming colour won’t dull or fade over time and will not require future repainting. Your building will look brand new for decades with minimal effort. Not only is it more cost-effective to build with durable steel, but ongoing maintenance costs are much lower. 

And if severe weather or vandals cause any damage, only the affected portions need to be replaced. Your repair and insurance costs will be much lower than having to rebuild.

Thinking of something other than just colour selection? Instead of making a bold color statement, you can choose to combine other finishes, such as copper, silver or natural metals, or emulate materials such as wood or stone.

Importance of choice

When you choose to create your ideal commercial or industrial facility, remember all the needs of your various stakeholders, including employees. Workplaces need to be a combination of the artistic dreamscape, with a welcoming environment and stylish image that people can be proud of, and a practical affordability that requires little future maintenance.

Contact Summit Steel Buildings’ team to begin the plans for your next structure, selecting from a wide choice of vibrant colours to highlight the value of your business. Contact us now online, by email at info@summitsteelbuildings.com  or at 877-417-8335 and we'll provide you with a free consultation and quote.



About the author

Frank Melo has a construction civil engineering technology and business background with over 25 years of experience as a business owner and contractor. He was born and educated in London, Ontario and now divides his time between projects primarily in Ontario and British Columbia. He can be contacted at Summit Steel Buildings at (778) 951-4766 or by email at frank.melo@summitsteelbuildings.com or through LinkedIn.