Stainless Steel Guide Part 3: The Latest Architectural Innovations & Applications of Stainless Steel

This is the final installation of our three-part series on stainless steel. Read about the history of stainless steel in part 1 and the finishes and colors of stainless steel in part 2.

Durable, recyclable, and easy to maintain, stainless steel is celebrated across industries where toughness and corrosion resistance are paramount.

However, the single greatest attribute of a stainless steel surface may be its interplay with light. Stainless steel reflects approximately 60% of a light wave. The luster generated by the absorption and reemission of the light wave intensifies the appearance.

The ability to finish and change the surface reflectivity of the metal enables the artist to create with light. Consider the mesmerizing sculpture by Walter De Maria, The Lightning Field. Here, Walter De Maria used 400 polished stainless steel rods spaced over a square mile in the desert of southwest New Mexico. The stainless steel rods capture the light and the viewer sees lines of light as the rods recede into the distance.

Over the years, Zahner has worked to amplify this interplay of light. Through patented fabrication systems we have developed Angel Hair®—the finest, smoothest, and most uniform light-diffusion metal surface available for architectural metal—as well as GB-60™, a mechanical finish for metal with a diffused, non-directional appearance.

Let’s take a closer look at these innovations in stainless steel and examine the Zahner projects that scale up the possibilities of this remarkable material.

True Angel Hair

Initially there were several competitive non-directional finishes on the market, each with subtle differences in reflectivity. The difficulty was in removing the mottling effect that could be seen when the surface was observed from a distance. Overlapping patterns, such as scallops, would appear, or striping patterns from the lapping process.

Additionally, copies of Angel Hair are often produced by hand. This results in a mottled, inconsistent surface. There is no way around this when the finish is applied manually.

Pressure differences and symmetrical movements of the discs used to apply the finish will create these ghosting effects. Up close all looks good, however, observe the surface from a distance and the scallop or lines appear.

True Angel Hair is a dual surface: one level of texture below another. The small circular scratches are induced in such a way that symmetry is disrupted, eliminating the striping and scalloping effects.

As well as the 212,000 square feet of custom Angel Hair panels supplied by Zahner to form the geometric controlled edges of Rogers Place Arena in Edmonton, Alberta.

GB-60™ | The Patented Glass Bead Blasted Stainless Steel

GB-60 is another non-directional Zahner innovation first developed for architectural applications requiring diffuse reflectivity. Its origin, like many advancements in metallurgy, can be found in the industrial age.

In the late 1800s, a patent was filed by Benjamin Chew Tilghman for an abrasive blasting technique to be used on bottles, cleaning boilers, and bringing out the grain in wood. Tilghman had supposedly seen the effect of wind-blown sand on glass while a general in the United States Army.

Nearly a century later in the 1990s, the bead-blasting technique had been used in a number of industries. Stainless steel is well suited for glass bead blasting, which impacts the surface of with minute glass beads. These beads, striking the surface with significant energy, will impart tiny, overlapping concave dishes across the entire surface of the stainless steel.