News & Updates

The words “Sangdo Palri” directly translate into English as, “Copper Colored Mountains.” This descriptive name served as the starting point in the design process, and lead to the brilliantly colored metal shingles adorning the temple. The design of the temple was made to compliment the rugged yet serene surrounding area. This remote location within the rocky mountain was chosen.

Coated Metals Group was proudly involved in the construction of the Sangdo Palri Temple in Crestone, Colorado. This project was one that required heavy involvement and posted unique challenges.  Finding solutions to these obstacles and working to cover every detail is what really sets this building apart, and is seen by sheer beauty of this temple.

DCIM100MEDIA

Location

The first step in the planning process was finding a location. After deliberation, the project manager, general contractor, and project coordinator decided on a remote location within the Rocky Mountains. This location resides near Crestone, Colorado and was chosen due to the ruggedness of the area along with the tranquility felt from such a remote location.

The location served as an obstacle to overcome. This remote spot among the mountains provided little cellphone reception, much longer transportation times, and a lack of running water. From a logistics perspective, these were all major problems, but because of Dave Palonis and Nick Mentzer’s planning and coordination, these were made to be minor setbacks in the temple’s construction.

Safety

In the construction of any religious establishment, different standards and guidelines are set in order to respect the culture and traditions behind the building. Because of this, the teams involved had to develop creative approaches to “standard” procedures.  One such safety concern was the tie downs used. Ordinarily, one would tie down to the top of the roof, however out of respect for the temple and its design, at no time were workers anchored to the steeple. Instead, anchors were made into the gables of the building, as well as anchor points along the scaffolding surrounding the building. This ensured the proper respect be shown for the temple while still maintaining a safe secure environment.

DCIM100MEDIA

Materials

The name “Sangdo Palri” translates into English as “Copper Colored Mountain.” This served as a base for designing the aesthetic elements to the temple. Due to the name, Mangala Shri Bhuti and Dave Palonis decided a combination of copper and gold be used for the metal roofs.  The Metallic Gold was a custom color offered by Coated Metals Group, and was designed to accent the gold as well as the surrounding area.  These colors then were painted on individually crafted, decorative, metal shingles. Each shingle was individually crated in order to match very specific measurements taken on the temple’s design, and was given a hand crafted appearance to give the temple a very unique aesthetic design.

DCIM100MEDIA

Conclusion

The collaboration between all the teams involved in this project was the key in the successful completion of the Sangdo Palri Temple. Each member played a key role in planning, design and execution of such a beautiful building.  As it stands now, Sangdo Palri is a work of art that combines the traditional look of a religious temple with the modern technologies of metal shingles and weather resistant materials. This combination will make this a site to see for many years to come.