Kia Center

The Kia Center is the home of the Orlando Magic basketball team, hosts concerts and events, and is a major epicenter of activity in downtown Orlando. A recent change in naming rights coincided with the owner’s need to restore the dome roof and provided a unique opportunity to demonstrate the versatility of GAF liquid-applied roofing systems.

Challenges

Minimize disruption: As a busy sports and entertainment hub in bustling Orlando, Florida, The Kia Center sees a steady flow of visitors, NBA and minor league sports teams, performing artists and their fans, night and day, as frequently as 7 days a week. Roofing contractor RMS Orlando was tasked with restoring and rebranding the dome without disrupting the flow or comfort of the extremely active venue.

Brand visibility: The Kia Center dome represents one of the most recognized branding placements in Orlando — a city renowned for its entertainment caché. The new Kia logo on the roof would be seen not just from neighboring buildings, but from countless passenger flights and on national sports and concert broadcasts thanks to helicopter and drone flyovers. As a premiere Orlando venue and a valued partner with the city, the Kia Center represents not just the venue, but the entire city. The pristine white roof, and the logo at its center, was an important part of the project.

Loading and staging: The downtown location made it virtually impossible to load materials from the ground using a crane. Instead, RMS Orlando transported approximately 2,000 buckets of GAF Hydrostop^® Premium Acrylic and GAF Kymax^® coatings in a single freight elevator. Buckets were chosen over larger, heavier drums or totes as more suitable for use on the dome; the 2,000 containers were moved first to lower-tier roof areas, then laddered to specifically identified joist-reinforced areas of the dome as needed.

Florida weather: Installers needed to constantly adjust to the volatility of Florida’s climate, which often served up moist, dewy mornings, followed by scorching afternoon heat.

The Solution

GAF had experience with the building, and the company’s expertise and network of contractors was tapped once again to handle the restoration and rebrand. Working with RMS Orlando, GAF helped develop an aggressive timeline and restoration plan to help protect the structural integrity of the existing roof while respecting the busy calendar of the venue.

Phase 1 involved inspecting the existing single-ply roof for damage or leaks. Once RMS Orlando was satisfied with the structural integrity of the single-ply, they cleaned the roof and proceeded to Phase 2.

Phase 2 To make sure the previous logo would not show through the newly restored roof surface, RMS Orlando applied three layers of GAF HydroStop^® Premium Acrylic Membrane. GAF HydroStop^® can help provide protection against damage from exposure to UV and water infiltration. As long as the system remains structurally sound, it can be restored with additional coats that could potentially extend the GAF limited warranty.*

The liquid-applied system solution significantly reduced the disrupting noise that would have accompanied any kind of mechanical attachment, and is low-VOC, which is helpful when guest satisfaction is paramount. Recoating and restoring the existing roof system also enabled the team to preserve the existing insulation, delaying sending an enormous amount of waste to landfill. Due to weather and time restrictions on the building itself — work often had to stop at 3 pm to accommodate events — each coat of HydroStop took approximately a week and a half. “The choice of a liquid applied system gave us the opportunity to really renew the roof itself and extend the warranties,”* said J.T. McWalters, Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships for Orlando Magic, “which is important for anybody managing buildings and of course, for the Magic and our friends at the city of Orlando.”

Phase 3 RMS Orlando worked with Roof Logos of Atlanta, GA, to meticulously stencil the Kia Center logo onto the new HydroStop system membrane with GAF Kymax coating in Midnight Black. GAF Kymax Coating is manufactured using Kynar Aquatec^® resin, which is based on proven Kynar 500^® technology — a PVDF resin relied on globally for more than 55 years for outstanding durability and color.

Tom O’Toole, VP of RMS Orlando, explained the choice of GAF Kymax: “The Kymax product is special because it is warranted not to fade beyond a certain level for a period of 10 years. There's not a lot of other products out there that can do that or claim that.”†

† Refer to Kymax Roof Coating 10-Year Limited Warranty available at gaf.com, for complete coverage and restrictions.