Daniel Island Residence

Metal Roof Checks All the Boxes for Daniel Island Residence

Covering just over six square miles, Daniel Island, S.C., remained underdeveloped until the 1990s. Since then, developers have built a planned community that blends the convenience of modern living with the historic architecture of the Low Country. Located approximately 20 minutes from downtown Charleston and scenic beaches, the community is decidedly idyllic.

Daniel Island’s aesthetic constraints coupled with the challenges inherent in coastal architecture make designing a contemporary and long-lasting residence no easy task. However, the teams at Shelter Custom-Built Living and Boyd Architects were up to the challenge. Together, they designed a durable and unique home that was completed in the fall of 2023.

While several elements come together perfectly in this stunning home, the custom metal roof fabricated by Jet Metals using Drexel Metals’ coil is of particular note. The project team chose the metal roofing system for its ability to contribute to the intended design vision and to enhance the home’s resilience, which is key in coastal locations.

Creating a cohesive aesthetic prompts material challenges

The residence’s combination of white brick and dark wood paneling visually alludes to the area’s architecture without compromising the home’s distinctive look. The project team tied the project together with a DMC 175S metal roofing profile, which utilizes snap lock installation and free-floating clips. The roof’s color, a stormy, metallic gray color called Weathered Zinc, provides a minimalistic throughline to the home’s overall design.

Jenny Butler, Director of Marketing & Design at Shelter Custom-Built Living, states, “A metal roof was selected to limit the architectural color palette to three materials: brick, wood siding, and the gray metal color of the windows, doors and roof.”

The roof’s metallic gray finish, along with its profile, provides a high degree of design versatility and longevity. These benefits were integral to the project since the home features an upper pitched roof and sections of lower flat roof.

A versatile roofing solution unifies multiple design choices

The Jet Metals team was able to roll-form coils into panels with DMC175S’s distinctive 1¾-inch seam height. This profile could handle the demands of both the high-pitched upper roof and the sections of low-pitched lower roof.

Butler explains, “We wanted the look of a flat roof but with the durability of a traditional standing seam roof. Due to how visible the first floor ‘flat’ roofs were from the second-floor windows, we also wanted something that looked good.”

The Drexel Metals roofing system readily meets all requirements for this design. In addition to providing a single profile shape across the various roof heights, the metal roofing system delivers a unified color palette across the entire residence—matching the windows, doors, gutters, parapet caps and trim wrapping.  

An aesthetic solution also supports weather resilience

The roof’s Weathered Zinc polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) finish does more than provide a minimalist color palette to the Daniel Island residence. This finish is fade-resistant and comes with a cool roof rating, which increases the home’s energy efficiency without sacrificing a comfortable interior temperature. This is essential given the location’s semi-tropical climate, which boasts 209 sunny days per year.

However, since it is located approximately 12 miles from the Atlantic coast, this home needed to be able to provide significant weather resilience. On the one hand, its PVDF finish protects the roof system from moisture and corrosion. On the other, the roof’s interlocking metal panels and heavy-duty fastening system resist the damaging effects of high winds and storm-caused leaks—two key factors given that Daniel Island is located in an area prone to hurricanes and other tropical storms.

The DMC 175S roofing system, when installed by certified installers, is also eligible for a weather-tightness warranty. This gives homeowners peace of mind that the roof will continue to provide protection overhead for decades after installation.

Metal roofing: the only choice for the Daniel Island home

Because Drexel Metals’ roofing coils could meet the project team’s design intentions and performance goals, they offered considerable value to this coastal home. Further, the DMC 175S metal roofing system can last up to three times longer than other roofing materials. This not only helps ensure the Daniel Island home will remain beautiful for years but also reduces the total cost of ownership by necessitating fewer repairs and replacements over its service life.

By delivering superior weather resilience, a cohesive design aesthetic and longevity in application, this metal roofing system represents a substantial win for all project stakeholders—from the design team to the homeowners.