When 14-year-old Katherine “Trinka” Davis first visited Pearl Harbor in 1947, the U.S Naval base still bore the scars of the Japanese attack six years earlier. Profoundly moved, Davis decided she wanted to help the nation’s war veterans. Sixty-five years later, her vision was realized with the dedication of the Trinka Davis Veterans Village: a unique, 73,900-square-foot medical complex in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in western Georgia.

Today, the Trinka Davis Veterans Village in Carrollton features a 24,000-square-foot Outpatient Clinic and a 48-bed Community Living Center. The design incorporates 30,000 square feet of CopperPlus® copper-clad stainless steel in its distinctive fascia and coping. “Solid copper was originally specified, but the metal fabricator suggested CopperPlus,” said Lauren Bowen of Peacock Partnership, the Atlanta architectural firm hired for the $16 million project. “We were happy to find a product that achieved the same look as copper at a lower cost.”

Supplied by Heyco Metals of Reading, Pa., CopperPlus is a copper-clad stainless steel ASTM B 506-09 roofing material featuring two outer layers of 100 percent copper metallurgically roll bonded at two million psi to a core of Type 430 Stainless Steel. This is the same technology used to fashion precision thermostats, electrical overload protectors, and U.S. quarters and dimes. According to the manufacturer, there is no possibility of delamination. The resulting metallic composite strip offers the increased strength and reduced thermal properties of stainless steel, the beauty and patination properties of solid copper, and unprecedented design flexibility for architectural firms like Peacock Partnership.

“The Trinka Davis Foundation wanted to provide veterans in western Georgia with a first-class healthcare experience,” said Bowen. “Using CopperPlus in the fascia and coping throughout the complex helped unify the outpatient care facility with the residential center, and fostered a sense of community.”

The general contractor for the Trinka Davis Veterans Village was R.K. Redding Construction of Bremen, Ga. The roofing contractor was Roof Specialties of Forest Park, Ga.

Roof Specialties Manager Ken Murray said economy was a significant factor in specifying CopperPlus. “We’d heard about the copper-clad material from other roofing contractors, and knew it was cost-effective,” said Murray, whose company installed CopperPlus composite fascia in valleys and eave drips at the facility’s tile roof, in soffit material in a drop-off canopy, and as a coping/fascia on the flat roof. “It was also easy to install, and the steps were virtually the same as for solid copper.”

The Trinka Davis Veterans Village is the first-ever privately funded VA facility in the United States and sets a new standard in the delivery of care to veterans. Designed around a centralized outdoor courtyard/living space, the complex delivers abundant natural light into the interior and features a loop corridor system for connectivity. The outpatient clinic centralizes shared services such as laboratory and diagnostics, while providing primary and specialty care. CopperPlus accents complement and unify the warm color palette and prairie-style architecture throughout the facility.

“CopperPlus was a great fit for the Trinka Davis Veterans Village because it’s a sustainable material with strong historical appeal,” said Bowen. “It was also easier for the roofer to work with as it behaved more like conventional break metal.”

Introduced in the 1960s, CopperPlus is used in a wide range of commercial and residential roofing and architectural metal applications. According to the manufacturer, CopperPlus is a stronger, lighter and more durable material than solid copper, with higher resistance to erosion and a 33 percent lower coefficient of thermal expansion. It exceeds UL 2218 Class 4 hail test requirements and Miami-Dade Code high-velocity wind lift requirements.

Despite the differences in strength and weight, CopperPlus is virtually indistinguishable from solid copper, according to Heyco Architectural Product Manager Richard Petty. “CopperPlus will patina at the same rate as monolithic copper because the exterior is 100 percent copper,” he said. “The fabrication and installation steps are virtually identical. Wherever you can use copper, you can use CopperPlus.”

Trinka Davis died in 2006, but her legacy lives on in the unique medical complex that bears her name, and in the warm and welcome setting enjoyed by 3,000 local men and women every year.

CopperPlus is a trademark for architectural clad products manufactured by the Engineered Materials Solutions LLC in Attleboro, Mass. Heyco Metals Inc. is a producer of precision rolled stainless steel and copper coil. For more information, visit www.heycometals.com.