ARCHITECTURAL: Detroit Firm Rebuilds Historic Tower’s Copper Crown

award for their restoration work on the Summit on the Park Aquatic Center in Canton, Michigan. 

Most of us would be tempted to rest on our laurels after receiving recognition from the Copper Development Association, but CASS celebrated the prestigious win by sending key employees back to school. They attended one of the earliest courses of the iTi’s then-new Copper Soldering Strike Force Training. 

“When this copper certification came to fruition, I wanted Detroit to be one of the first participants in the process,” explains Glenn Parvin, owner of CASS. 

“I was on the SMACNA architectural steering committee. We sat around a table as long as 20 years ago because we were trying to develop a protocol for the iTi that meets all copper standards. It's an old-world craft that is starting to fade away and we're trying to bring it back.”

Parvin’s focus on excellent copper work is paying off in a stream of copper-related projects and awards. 

Shortly after they completed the Strike Force training, his team used their enhanced skills to restore the high-profile copper roof of The Station at Michigan Central, a historic Detroit train station that has been reborn as an innovation and start-up hub. The project won CASS a second North American Copper in Architecture award, this time the 2024 award for Restoration and Renovation. “CASS Sheet metal has become quite reasonably known for historical restoration,” Parvin says.

Months after they completed The Station, masonry contractor Akins Construction asked CASS to bring their skills to help rescue another Detroit landmark, the Detroit Towers. Parvin assigned the copper portion of the project to two young craftsmen who had graduated from Strike Force training and then gained an additional year’s worth of experience installing the roof of The Station. 

The Detroit Towers has been one of the most prestigious residential buildings in Detroit since it was built in 1925, but a 2022 windstorm tore away parts of its copper “witch’s hat” roof. The conical “witch’s hat” caps an 18-story curved column of windows with views of the Detroit River. The east side of the “hat” is accessible from the roof, but the most severe damage was on the west side, where there is a 200-foot drop. Akins initially planned to use a crane to reach the repair site, but quickly realized that scaffolding would be safer. They found a creative solution, engaging a subcontractor to construct an innovative scaffolding system that tied back to the roof by running directly through the copper cone. 

While the scaffolding kept the work crew safe, Parvin says it introduced new challenges to this “very difficult install.” The CASS team had to work around the scaffold throughout the project and could not replace the final copper panels until the scaffold was removed. 

Once the scaffold gave CASS full access to the “hat,” they saw why the structure had been vulnerable to wind. The original 1-inch snap-on riveted copper panels were installed improperly, which allowed rain to penetrate inside the roof for years. By the time wind exposed the inferior workmanship, the wooden framework was rotting away, and the soffit was falling off the building. The owners appreciated the need for a permanent solution and renegotiated the project to a full restoration. 

Due to the extreme weathering, CASS upgraded the entire structure. They strengthened the “witch’s hat” by replacing about 600 feet of one-by-threes and adding a new layer of 3/8-inch plywood. They replaced the damaged copper panels with an inch-and-a-half double-lock standing-seam tapered panel system, bringing it up to modern SMACNA standards, and they installed a new copper soffit

“A properly installed copper roof should last about 100 years and is 100% recyclable,” Parvin says. The 8-foot finial that tops the “witch’s hat” illustrates his point. Akins Construction salvaged and cleaned the original finial, which CASS took to their shop for repairs. Restored to its original glory, the 100-year-old finial once again shines from the top of the historic property. 

Besides restoring the roof, the Detroit Towers needed extensive repairs to the masonry and windows. CASS worked with Akins to provide future access by creating dormers with door openings in the copper roof. “We had to flash them in and copper around them so that in the future somebody could open the door from inside the tower and install a swing stage beam,” Parvin says. “The swing stage access was critical to the needed restoration along the wall.”

Parvin chose Revere Copper for this project. “We’ve only used Revere USA Copper in our career, largely because it’s American made, and I believe it’s the highest quality copper out there,” Parvin says.

The copper is sold by the pound in flat stock, which CASS rolls and fabricates in the shop. “We custom-fabricate all copper used in our projects,” he says.

Between the carpentry work and fabricating and installing about 2,000 square feet of copper panels, the Detroit Towers project brought CASS 1,000 work hours.