German company finishing in Canada The timing building at the finish of this year's Warsteiner World Downhill has something in common with the Canadian pavilion at the world exposition in Seville, Spain: the roof and siding material was supplied by a German manufacturer who is considering building a $500 million rolling mill in Canada. Rheinzink is a common name in the construction business in Europe, but it is just breaking into the Pacific Rim market. The company manufactures a flexible steel product that can be used for undulating surfaces, such as the curved roof on the timing building. All the zinc in the product, which is what makes it flexible, comes from Canada. "They can do art with this product," says Alex Kleinman, who worked with Rheinzink, Blue Sky Architecture, Capilano Highways, Alpine Electric and Dynamic Windows to build the unique timing building. Rheinzink asked Blue Sky's Bo Helliwell to do the design work on a building at the Furry Creek Golf Club. The German company was interested in showing off its material at the World Cup race because its marketing slogan is "We're the company from start to finish." Rheinzink is now in the third year of an eight-year product development campaign, in which it is investing $2 million per year. If the results meet expectations the company will build a $500 million rolling steel mill in Canada to manufacture the flexible roofing and siding material.
