Reroofing the Twin Toaster Buildings in Seattle

By Evelyn Witterholt. 

Learn how James King Roofing and Duro-Last teamed up to take on the major re-roofing project for the Met Park buildings. 

Sitting 20 stories high, the Met Park buildings are a landmark of the Seattle skyline. The two buildings, Met Park east and Met Park West, have been dubbed ‘the twin toasters’ due to their silver exterior and rounded corners. Recently, they needed a new roof, and many roofing companies made bids to complete the job. In an episode of Stories From the Roof, we spoke with Mike Lowery, vice president of James King Roofing, and Will Williams, independent manufacturer's representative of Duro-Last, about their experience with the project. 

Duro-Last and James King Roofing had worked together in the past and had also partnered with the project architect, Evolution Architecture. With trust already established, they all banded together to make the re-roofing project happen.  

“There were some challenges on this job, being a tall building in downtown Seattle with limited access, and some design criteria,” Will said. “So we worked with Evolution Architecture on the system that we all thought would work well.” 

The system they would end up using was the Duro-Last 60 mil membrane in gray. This product was chosen because of its reflective properties and its impressive weldability. Mike told us how the project was a success largely in part because of their good communication with everyone on board.  

“We were able to walk the property, walk the building, find clear access points, have full understanding what our capabilities were there, so that we could pull off a successful project,” he said. “Everybody was really on board, and everything was well-understood ahead of time. It made it much easier.” 

Listen to the entire podcast or read the transcript to learn more about James King Roofing, Duro-Last and their work on the Met Park building.