Profile Typology: Civic

Pacific Park Plaza Pavilion

July 24, 2020/in Landscape Architecture Civic, Pergola, Urban Design Dallas--Texas HKS Line Silver M 2020 /by cmorris

Pacific Park Plaza Pavilion; Dallas, Texas

The City of Dallas took a decisive and very proactive step when it hired SWA Group to masterplan one of several site in Downtown Dallas. SWA Group understands the benefits of urban heat island reduction and hired HKS Line to work in concert with them developing geometries and patterns for an elegant open-air Pavilion. The horizontally oriented Brise soleil in Pacific Park Plaza draws inspiration from the former railroads that transited through Dallas during the westward expansion.

Zahner was brought on board to provide design assist services, budgeting and ultimately engineering and fabrication of 7,600 visible square feet of surface for 323 unique perforated panels.

The Pavilion works. It’s an integral component of SWA Group’s design to reduce urban heat island effects. It also provides dappled light for casual visitors. For those conversant with Morse code, the perforated panels can tell a story. The Pavilion’s crisp geometries developed concurrently by HKS Line and Zahner have created a piece of sculptural beauty for Dallas residents and visitors alike.

Ramsey Attia | ARKO

Equal Justice Initiative Building

July 21, 2020/in Exterior Architecture Civic, Historic Montgomery--Alabama WBA Architects Silver M 2019 Homepage Featured /by Winifred Wright

Equal Justice Initiative Building; Montgomery, Alabama

Located in Montgomery, Alabama, The Equal Justice Initiative is a non-profit organization that provides legal representation to prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes, impoverished prisoners without effective representation, and others who may have been denied a fair trial. The challenge for this component of the project was inspirational.

Zahner supplied 2,493 visible square feet of custom Angel Hair Stainless steel perforated panels and associated painted sub-framing for installation by the Subcontractor- Fravert.

The collaborative efforts of the Zahner of all involved with the project conveys a strong message of hope. Zahner is proud to have brought this façade to fruition.

Equal Justice Initiative Building Exterior Facade

Cornelius Hayes | ARKO

Lakeside Nature Center

March 16, 2017/in Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture Civic, Museum, Urban Design, Zoo Kansas City International Architects Atelier M 1999 /by cmorris

Lakeside Nature Center in Swope Park, Kansas City

Lakeside Nature Center is a bird and wildlife rehabilitation center in Kansas City. The building features a flat seam roof and interior metalwork provided by Zahner. The center, designed by International Architects Atelier, has a unique concept and layout, often described as if it were birds in flight.

Lakeside Nature Center serves the public as both an educational and recreational resource. It also provides one of Missouri’s largest wildlife rehabilitation facilities. Located in Swope Park, the building houses 75 animals including bald eagles and other birds of prey, reptiles and fish.

“Designing and building the structure was a major challenge”, said Mark McHenry, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation. “It’s a hard building to construct”, McHenry said, “everything is built with odd angles. It’s not a box”.

The building was commissioned by the Kansas City Parks Department in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Conservation. The project was developed with environmental systems, including passive solar design, energy management systems, and sustainable materials.

Lakeside Nature Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Highland Park Center

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Civic Minneapolis--Minnesota LSE Architects S 2015 /by cmorris

Highland Park Community Center Signage

Highland Park Community Center of Minneapolis hired LSE Architects to create a design for its new addition. Zahner was brought into the project to provide the building’s artistic signage system. The goal of the project was to create a signage system which both state the title of the community center, and also relates to the surrounding community and region.

To meet this challenge, LSE Architects provided imagery of the meandering Mississippi River from a birds-eye view where it crosses the city. This landmark was overlapped with several sections of street layout for the city itself.

The custom image perf was made using ImageWall by Zahner, whose team worked with the designers to create its unique signage. The project used minimal fabrication with no brakes or further fabrication, each the perforated panels were face-fastened onto a steel subframe.

Detail of the perforated metal signage for Highland Park Community Center.

The design was made using 1/8” aluminum with an Angel Hair finish. The artwork spans approximately 12’ x 24’ and consists of twenty seamless panels. Zahner’s Angel Hair surface was developed to soften the high reflectivity of standard finishes of stainless steel making it a perfect choice for signage.

How to Create Image-based Perforation on Metal

The designers used an image graphic created using photo-editing tools to create their design. This was uploaded into the ImageWall software, which gave the designers control over the look and feel of the final product before setting up a purchase order.

ImageWall is based on the ZIRA patented technology (Zahner Interpretive Relational Algorithm). Working with the ImageWall team, designers can create translate their imagery into perforations, bumps, and unique cutouts that can then be embossed and perforated into a selected metal. The image is not restricted to text or shapes but can be photographs as well. ImageWall allows the customer to design and experiment with specifications while being given a real time estimate.