Education | Zahner

MIT Stata Center

The Ray and Maria Stata Center at MIT, Building 32

Designed for the Computer, Information, and Intelligence Sciences programs at MIT, Frank Gehry and his architectural team at Gehry Partners envisioned a sprawling academic complex of visually amorphous structures which provide a combination of study and social space for students. The project is comprised of 47 unique elements, using a variety of materials, from brick to glass and architectural metals.

Zahner developed the geometry and cladding the structure with rain screen panels in stainless steel, aluminum, and titanium. As the facade provider, Zahner designed the structural forms to match the designer’s aesthetic, fabricated the forms, skins, and window units, and installed the facade onsite at the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus.

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Fisher Center

The performance center was completed in 2003, designed by Frank Gehry Partners. Zahner has been involved with Gehry's firm since the beginning, and has been involved in a number of featured Gehry projects over the years. The Bard College was finished a year after Weatherhead at Case Western, and a year prior to the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, Chicago. All three were built using Zahner engineering-design, fabrication, and installation.

Designing the Building Envelope for Stata Center

Because of the complex nature of the project, the designers used ZEPPS, Zahner’s structural system for building complex forms. Using ZEPPS allows the engineers to simplify the design into buildable components using 3D fabrication processes. Parts were then assembled either at the Zahner shop or in the field depending on their complexity and ease of shipment.

An onsite team of installers lifted and secured each ZEPPS assembly. In total there were 1,500 individual ZEPPS assemblies manufactured for the project. Each of these assemblies was lifted into place for this project and then surfaced with a metal skin in one of several specified metal surfaces. More than 10,000 individual skins were installed to the surface and roof.

One of the distinct advantages of the ZEPPS is that it allows fully functional window boxes, over six feet in height, to be pre-installed on these panels. For that reason, the system is often described as prefab for custom buildings.

Detail of the flatseam panel system for Stata Center at MIT.

Facade installers in their office at MIT.

Detail CAD comparison of the Giraffe building at MIT Stata Center.

Interior metalwork, mirror-polish stainless steel flatseam panels at MIT.

Mockup for one of the buildings at MIT Stata Center.

Construction comparison of the MIT Stata Center giraffe building.

Aerial photograph of MIT Stata Center during construction.

Sunrise glows over the Pisa building at MIT Stata Center during construction.

Vista building at MIT Stata Center during construction.

Twins building during construction revealing the ZEPPS panel understructure.

The Twins building at MIT, installation detail.

McMurtry Building

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Education Stanford--California Bora Architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro Brown, Orange L 2015 /by cmorris

McMurtry Building for the Department of Art and Art History

A work of architecture which both matches the surrounding aesthetics and yet stands out as an icon of its own, the McMurtry Building is a unique architectural project in Stanford, California. The structure features Zahner craftsmanship in both its custom patinated zinc facade and the courtyard’s grand stairway.

The McMurtry Building was designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro whose design team worked with executive designers Boora Architects to bring this 100,000-square-foot project to fruition. The building was named for donors Burt & Deedee McMurtry who contributed over a third of the building’s costs. The campus building brings studio art, design, art history, film, and media studies together under a zinc roof.

Zahner’s scope required a unique warm-toned brown patinated zinc, which would encompass the roof, facades, soffit, and other areas of the building. Zahner developed this preweathered patina on zinc in multiple variations as part of the Design Assist process.

During the development of details, three final ‘color’ options were presented in mockup form. The architect then narrowed the selection down to the finalized stable patina option. The chosen patina has a rich brown hue, interspersed with variegated grey and umber. The tone defines the McMurtry Building.

McMurtry Building in Stanford, California, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

McMurtry Building interior gathering area for students.

About the McMurtry Building’s Design

The building’s design includes stacking cantilevered forms, broken by a sloping diagonal on both the east and west sides. This balanced criss-crossing of elements divides the various disciplines within its space.

In a speech delivered at the McMurtry Building groundbreaking, principal-in-charge Charles Renfro expounded on the building’s unique design approach. He describes how the two interwoven ‘strands’ influence the building’s form. The strands divide as well as unite the building’s two wings. At one end, classrooms serve as a clean learning space, and at the other, artist studios provide a work area. The strands come together the building’s rooftop communal space, and again the spaces are united at the ground floor library for art and architecture.

The strand of the southern wing is clad in preweathered zinc. Zahner performed the design-engineering and manufacture of the zinc aspects of the McMurtry Building. Zahner also performed the installation of zinc panels and metalwork, working to ensure a high-quality product for the architect and client.

McMurtry Building for the Department of Art and Art History.

Detail of the Zinc panels on-site at the McMurtry Building in California.

Detail of the custom zinc ceiling corner and facade for the McMurtry Building in Stanford, California.

The soffit area is detailed with a preweatehred custom zinc with custom panel-patterns.

Detail of the cantilevered facade with custom-patinated zinc metalwork, on the McMurtry Building in Stanford, California.

Creating a custom roof and facade with Design Assist

Before making the actual facade and roof panels, Zahner was selected to design-engineer the exterior cladding systems. Hiring Zahner through a separate Design Assist contract, the architects were able to solidify the design details before building the actual project.

As part of the Design Assist contract, Zahner also provided multiple mockups for the zinc rain screen. The final mockup was installed just North of the actual McMurtry Building on the University campus. This mockup focused on many of the most difficult and complex aspects of the facade, soffit, and roof. By creating a mockup, the entire project team was able to predict and better develop the final product.

The McMurtry mockup was installed on-site in Stanford, California.

Patina technicians in the Zahner Dallas facility create the custom patina on zinc.

The building's cantilevered form highlights the rooftop area's custom patina on zinc.

Detailed of the corner where the zinc facade meets the zinc soffit.

Custom zinc ceiling soffits and staircase at the McMurtry Building in Stanford, California.

The McMurtry Building's cantilevered forms (zinc panels across the top).

Detail of the custom zinc interior atrium staircase at the McMurtry Building in Stanford, California.

Custom zinc ceiling soffit for the McMurtry Building in Stanford, California.

Detail of the zinc ceiling soffit and recessed lighting.

Detailed metalwork uses Zahner's preweathered custom zinc patina.

West side of the McMurtry Building, detail of the copper-toned patina on zinc.

Detail of the east utility area. The zinc provides an alternative to cor-ten weathering steel.

Cafe on the east side of the McMurtry Building in Stanford, California.

Utility area of the McMurtry Building in Stanford, California.

Detail of the corner edge of the zinc facade and soffit.

Zinc roof with a custom patina, McMurtry Building in California.

The McMurtry project is among several projects featuring Zahner manufacturing at the University campus. Zahner also worked on the WRNS-designed Hoover Garage which is located just a few minutes from the the McMurtry Building.

Lumenhaus

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Education Blacksburg--Virginia Virginia Tech Architecture Program Silver S 2011 /by cmorris

Herzog & de Meuron have developed a number of projects with Zahner including three major works. Based in Switzerland, Herzog & de Meuron is a partnership led by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron with Senior Partners Christine Binswanger, Ascan Mergenthaler and Stefan Marbach.

Architects come to Zahner for the company’s commitment to developing the designer’s aesthetic to completion. Zahner worked with Herzog & de Meuron to develop their design into custom architectural systems, featured below.

Lumenhaus Solar Pre-fab Housing Unit from Virginia Tech

Lumenhaus is an portable housing concept designed and built at Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design as part of its ongoing architectural research program. Inspired by the Farnsworth House by Mies Van Der Rohe, the north and south walls are all glass, maximizing the owner’s exposure to bright, natural daylight. The fully automated Eclipsis System, comprising independent sliding layers, permits a revolutionary design in a solar-powered house, while filtering light in beautiful, flowing patterns throughout the day.

Hacking a Robot to make Louvered Facades

In the Summer of 2015, Zahner’s ShopFloor team was tasked with developing several methods for louvered perforations to create picotage-effects for architectural metal.

Dusk photograph of Lumenhaus, Virginia Tech.

Exterior detail of the Lumenhaus facade.

Creating the Lumenhaus Facade

Zahner worked with Virignia Tech to develop the facade system, providing the engineering and fabrication for the project as part of the patented ZIRA™ System for perforating facades with custom patterns and imagery. Instead of adjusting the size of the perforation to create the metal image pattern, Lumenhaus was designed to create unique imagery through changing the angle of the protruding tab. By louvering the perforation, the visual contrast is increased between the negative dark areas and the light-capturing tabbed areas.

This is the third solar house designed and built at Virginia Tech, but it is the first to win international recognition and press. In 2010, the project won the International Solar Decathlon Competition in Madrid, Spain. In January, 2012, it was announced that the Lumenhaus has won a 2012 AIA Honor Award for Architecture. This is the first time this award has been given to a university team.

Photograph of the Lumenhaus facade for Virginia Tech.

Photograph of the Lumenhaus facade at Dusk.

Interior photograph of the Lumenhaus showing the facade and eclipsis system video.

Rooted in the design principles of the Bauhaus, the project imbues 21st century technologies to create a dynamic living situation. The entire mechanics of the house are controllable via mobile phone, so the hand-held phone becomes a remote control for the many features of the house. This Eclipsis System includes a automatic sliding screen-wall engineered and manufactured by Zahner.

Where most energy-conscious houses are closed with strategic openings to resist heat transfer, Lumenhaus has open, flowing spaces linking occupants to each other within the house and to nature outside.

The design served as both aesthetic and function, a compelling surface that filters the harsh rays of the setting sun while letting in ambient light throughout the day.

Detail of the facade pattern for the Lumenhaus project.

Detail of the imaginative facade pattern for the Lumenhaus project.

Juilliard Stairs

August 15, 2016/in Interior Architecture Education New York City Diller Scofidio + Renfro, FXFOWLE Architects Grey, Red M 2009 /by cmorris

Slow Stairs at The Juilliard School in New York City

Zahner worked with the architects at Diller Scofidio + Renfro to develop a gliding red stairway for the recent renovations at The Juilliard School in New York City. Zahner was responsible to Turner Construction in New York City for producing the design engineered metal-work. The two staircases are located one after the other, on the eastern-most side of the school from the third to fifth floors. There the students can collect their thoughts around the adjacent study areas.

The stairway was designed to appear as though it were made from a single sheet of metal. In actuality, the stair is made possible by several plates of 3/4″ low-carbon steel, seamlessly welded and painstakingly ground to achieve the look of a unified single piece of metal. Each step is a separate plate, bent at a 90 degree angle on either side, and then welded to either side of the staircase. The stairs are placed at a non-standard height and depth, so that the effect is a “slow staircase” where each step is only slightly elevated from the last.

Juilliard Staircase designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

One of the issues with welding metal is its tendency to warp itself towards the weld. When it came time to weld the long pipe which serves as the hand rail, Zahner identified this as a potential problem. If this wasn’t done correctly, the entire staircase would bow to the left or right as one looked up at it. After debating different ways to prevent warpage, the solution Zahner employed was an old ship building technique — we welded the handrail from both sides at the same time. The result is a highly accurate straight piece of steel with only three connections to the building.

Custom staircase loaded on a truck to be shipped to Juilliard School in New York City.

Detail of the staircase design's joints, ground to a seamless finish.

Instructional Centre

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture Education, LEED Toronto--Canada Perkins + Will Blue, Charcoal, Green L 2011 /by cmorris

University of Toronto Mississauga Instructional Centre

The University of Toronto at Mississauga (UTM) has developed a number of unique buildings to serve the students on its campus. The Instructional Centre at UTM is no different. Clad in a Zahner pre-patinated copper surface, this custom blue patina on copper was developed specifically for the project.

The patina was an inspired decision by the architects at Perkins + Will whose design required a number of unique aspects for both the interior and exterior of the building.

The architects wanted a facade with an artistic patina, revealing the bare copper in some areas, and hitting dark points in others. This mottled appearance appears natural, but it is manufactured by Zahner.

The award-winning University of Toronto Instruction Centre’s new building is certified LEED Silver, and was completed in 2011.

Related Surface

Instructional Centre

Under normal circumstances, raw copper sheet will develop a copper patina after ten to twenty years. In the case of the UTM Instructional Centre, this patina was developed in a matter of weeks by chemically oxidizing the metal in a controlled environment.

Zahner patina technicians developed a custom Star Blue patina on the copper, modifying its application technique for artistic effect. Zahner cultivates and trains patination experts for both their scientific prowess as well as their artistic vision, because many clients require a high-performance artistic patinated panel rather than a uniform machine-produced surface.

These copper sheets were then formed by Zahner into a panels. The prefabricated panels were crated and shipped to the job site in Toronto, where the pre-patinated panels were installed.

Students walking at dawn amidst the blue copper facade.

Students walk up and down the main staircase.

Overhead view of the new building at UTM.

Interior view showing the variance of brown and green copper.

The mood of the patinated copper interior walls changes during the evening.

The Instructional Centre is built just northwest of the recently completed Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre. The new building features a cafe in the main entrance and lobby underneath the main staircase.

The Instructional Centre’s design includes two lecture halls stacked vertically and organized into three towers, each clad in the pre-patinated copper. Each of these solid volumes enclose smaller perimeter lounges, enticing students to gather before and after lectures.

The UTM Instructional Centre is located at the north end of campus in place of a parking lot.Read more about the pre-patinated Star Blue patina used on the surface of the building, or Contact Zahner to request custom samples for your project.

Gates Hall at Cornell

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture Education, LEED Ithaca--New York Morphosis Orange, Silver L 2014 /by cmorris

Bill & Melinda Gates Hall at Cornell University

Gates Hall is a new computer science building for students of Cornell in Ithaca, New York. Designed by Morphosis Architects, the building features Zahner custom systems for the soffit, interior entry foyer, and exterior facade. The building, named for Bill & Melinda Gates, is a dedicated building for Cornell University’s Computing and Information Science (CIS) program.

The project’s facade is designed using generative processes developed by Morphosis. Its unique appearance also serves the building’s environment performance, reducing heat gain while providing natural light into the offices and classrooms.

The complex facade appears to be made up of unique parts, but there are several typical forms which are cleverly spaced to give the appearance that each part is unique. This technique of using the negative space to create complex visuals is a hallmark of the architecture firm’s genius, and can be seen on other Morphosis projects such as Emerson College LA and Bloomberg Center.

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Emerson LA

Working with Zahner's Design Assist team of engineers, designers and fabricators, this generative design was developed for manufacturing. A team of Zahner installers completed the project in Los Angeles, providing the campus with a visually compelling, efficiently envisioned, and rapidly completed building envelope system.

Zahner worked with Morphosis to optimize the frame panel system, reducing it to the fewest number of components. By switching from bulky hollow frames to a combination of angles and plates, Zahner minimized the leading edges and simplified its compound joint conditions, resulting in sharper lines and cleaner forms at a reduced cost.

Photograph of the Gates Hall main entrance and soffit system.

Metal panel system provide the building's offices with natural light and shading.

Field time and layout were reduced immensely by using a three-point attachment scheme and coordinating anchor locations beforehand, which were fabricated into the mullions. There are 450 total framed panels using 90 panel types, fabricated by Zahner for the facade. Each panel was pre-designated and automatically numbered with its specific location and pre-installed mullion incorporated anchor-tabs awaiting their arrival.

The facade project team included Zahner working directly with glass installer W&W to optimize the panel system. Thornton Tomasetti provided the structure’s engineering, and Welliver was the construction manager that coordinated and ensured the project’s success. The project team’s delivery of the angular sunshades should contribute to the building’s expected LEED Gold certification.

Reducing the cost of the Gates Hall facade with Design Assist

Because Zahner not only fabricates but also engineers its facades, Design Assist is often employed for complex facades such as Gates Hall at Cornell. By managing the project under a Design Assist contract, Zahner was able to refine the façade elements with Morphosis to arrive at a system that achieved the aesthetic intent and was streamlined for fabrication and installation.

Interior foyer with stainless steel entrance metalwork.

Detail of the exterior galvanized steel facade connection.

Detail of the orange-painted aluminum soffit system used on Gates Hall at Cornell University.

The design team members examine the Zahner mockup as part of the Design Assist contract.

Detail of the interior metalwork on the Gates Hall at Cornell.

Engineering rendering and construction photograph of the completed facade.

Using Zahner’s Design Assist process allowed Morphosis to hone the costs of their design while meeting its visual requirements. Once the design intent was solidified, Zahner clarified the forms, both aesthetically and functionally. This resulted in reduced waste and construction delays, as well as a reduction in the overall cost.

The facade was designed to create the illusion of movement through a series of rigid forms. By varying the shape and angle that panels integrated into the panel system, Morphosis was able to create smooth transitions across the surface. Each panel is mounted on a staggered galvanized steel frame, and skinned with perforated stainless steel.

The design team members overlook the window unit integration of the completed facade.

Gates Hall facade seen from the adjacent baseball field parking structure.

Photograph of students entering the overhanging panel at Gates Hall.

Detail of the custom metal panels used on Gates Hall at Cornell.

Building the Entrance Soffit

In addition to the building’s generative facade, Zahner also engineered and manufactured the bright orange soffit under the main entrance. The sloping curves of the painted aluminum soffit contrast against the angularities of its framed panels.

Zahner used the ZEPPS assemblies on the soffit to achieve this flowing surface. Systematic production of seven internal fin members per panel created the continuous curves and minimized the number of joints. Support members follow the profile of the soffit to ensure the efficiency of the final surface and optimal installation.

Zahner's soffit layout and design for the main entrance.

Photograph of orange-coated aluminum soffit panel system at Gates Hall.

Atrium at Gates Hall, shows the interior feature wall installed and fabricated by Zahner.

Detail of the shaded perforated metal panel system at Cornell's Science Center.

Student Lounge at Gates Hall, shaded by the perforated panel system by Zahner.

Building with Morphosis

Zahner has worked with Morphosis on several projects including Cooper Union and Clyde’s Wine and Dine in New York City, and the Eugene Federal Courthouse in Oregon, and Emerson LA in California. Because of these successful collaborations, Morphosis brought Zahner onboard during the planning stages to provide Design Assist.

Emerson LA

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture Education, LEED Los Angeles--California Morphosis Silver, White L 2014 /by cmorris

Emerson College at Los Angeles, California

Emerson College LA is designed by Morphosis with a series of custom facade systems design-engineered, manufactured, and installed by Zahner. The new Emerson College campus in Los Angeles provides a landmark for film and performing arts students of the Boston-based college to study in an immersive environment. The innovative design by the esteemed architects at Morphosis provides an integrated and efficient experience for both visitors and students.

Working with Zahner’s Design Assist team of engineers, designers and fabricators, this generative design was developed for manufacturing. A team of Zahner installers completed the project in Los Angeles, providing the campus with a visually compelling, efficiently envisioned, and rapidly completed building envelope system.

The project was certified LEED Gold in 2014.

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Gates Hall at Cornell

The project's facade is designed using generative processes developed by Morphosis. Its unique appearance also serves the building's environment performance, reducing heat gain while providing natural light into the offices and classrooms.

View of Emerson College at Los Angeles from across Sunset Boulevard.

Entrance stairs to the Emerson College at Los Angeles.

View of Sunset Blvd and Hollywood Hills through the piazza stairway at Emerson LA.

Evening photograph of Emerson LA, featuring a view of the complex undulating surface created by Zahner.

Photo detail of the louvered display during at the Emerson LA Campus..

Additional aluminum metalwork in the main gathering areas at Emerson LA.

View of the exterior hallway at Emerson College Los Angeles.

Photographs of the mockup, revealing the corridor which cuts through the facade.

Building the Emerson College at Los Angeles

Zahner was brought onto the project based on previous work with the architects on projects such as Cooper Union New Academic Building in New York City, Eugene Federal Courthouse in Oregon, Gates Hall at Cornell and also an interior project which may have been the first Morphosis project to feature this kind of generative design, Clyde Frazier’s Wine & Dine in New York City.

The generative design of its scrim isn’t the only aspect of engineering and manufacture that Zahner worked on for the project. Zahner’s scope of work included both the engineered aluminum scrim wall as well as the dual-curvature forms contained within the building’s square structure.

At the building’s core is a complex form which contains many of the presentation rooms, classrooms and administrative spaces. To create the complex form with Morphosis, engineers used ZEPPS, the Zahner building process for creating sculptural forms. ZEPPS provides a secondary structural facade system which allowed the architects to efficiently put together an otherwise complex form.

Color-coded rendering of the ZEPPS panel layout design.

ZEPPS works by breaking a complex form into smaller assemblies. These assemblies are typically sized based on the shipping container or truck trailer size. The curving form at the building’s center was made using this process.

Photograph showing both the ZEPPS forms as well as the generative facade design.

The mockup for Emerson LA at the Zahner Headquarters in Kansas City.

Detail of the Emerson LA facade against Hollywood Hills in California.

Photograph of the Emerson LA Campus at night.

Rendering of the Morphosis-designed Emerson LA Campus.

Preliminary sketch by Thom Mayne of Morphosis for Emerson LA.

Cooper Union

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Education, LEED New York City Gruzen Samton, Morphosis Grey, Silver L 2011 /by cmorris

Cooper Union Academic Building at 41 Cooper Square

Cooper Union New Academic Building at 41 Cooper Square is a Morphosis designed educational facility which includes a custom-curving and perforated stainless steel facade, made by Zahner.

The University’s new building covers a full city block on Third Avenue from East 6th to East 7th in downtown Manhattan, bordering the East Village. The Morphosis design provides Cooper Union with a futuristic facade, strikingly different from its surrounding buildings.

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Emerson LA

Cooper Union New Academic Building in Manhattan.

From afar, small windows appear to be scattered across the building’s surface. Drawing nearer, it becomes clear that these windows are actually sheets of stainless steel. Perforated sheets, surfaced in a mechanically-applied Angel Hair finish, encompass the entire facade and offer a sustainable, energy saving solution. By controlling sunlight penetration during warm weather and acting as an insulating barrier in cold weather, the skin system promises a 50% reduction in heat load.

Timelapse of 41 Cooper Square in New York.

Fabricators at Zahner assemble the Cooper Union facade in Kansas City.

Design Assist for 41 Cooper Square

Morphosis Architects invited Zahner to join the project team early on in a Design Assist process. Zahner collaborated with the team to provide engineering-design and manufacturing for the building facade.

Many Zahner-manufactured projects begin in the Design Assist (DA) phase. During DA, Architects provide a general model or conceptual drawings, collaborating with Zahner engineers to define details. The goal of the process is to achieve efficient manufacturing, within a budget, while remaining true to the original vision. As the project moved into the production phase, parts were engineered, drafted, and fabricated as pre-assembled metal panels for quick installation. The completed panel assemblies were shipped to New York City where local installers completed construction.

Panels prepared for shipment to New York from Kansas City.

Cooper Union New Academic Building signage at Zahner shop.

Detail of the Cooper Union New Academic Building signage.

Interior vertical piazza of the Cooper Union New Academic Building.

Basic structure beneath the Cooper Union's facade during construction.

Detail photograph of the less perforated rectangular sections.

Operable windows at Cooper Union New Academic Building.

SUNY Campus Commons at New Paltz

The State University of New York (SUNY) Campus Commons addition in New Paltz is a centerpiece for the school’s audacious program. Designed by ikon.5 architects, the glass and metal ‘crystalline palisade’ was ‘grown’ on the plinth of an existing concrete building. The new construction is designed for LEED Silver certification, incorporating radiant heating and cooling, photo-optic lighting controls, and substantial natural day lighting and views.

The muted turquoise surface is made using a pure copper alloy, preweathered and patinated (the process of developing a patina on metal) using a proprietary process developed by Zahner. The process results in an insoluble protective patina on the copper panel’s surface, variegated and eccentric.

The patinated copper surface was chosen by the architects because of the color’s association to nature and how it complements the glass shard. Zahner provided the sheets to local fabricators to create the flat-lock seam. The architects were already working with a manufacturer to fabricate the metal panel system, so the Zahner team supplied pre-patinated flat copper sheet and had a local team produce the panel system.

The ikon.5 architects-designed SUNY New Paltz Student Union Building

Interior view of the Star Blue™ copper panels at SUNY New Paltz Student Union Building

Star Blue™ copper panels at SUNY New Paltz Student Union Building

Detail of the Star Blue™ copper panels at SUNY New Paltz Student Union Building

Creating an Architectural Identity

The new design references the surrounding landscape of the Hudson River Valley and the Catskills. The building’s form was inspired by the nearby Shawangunk palisade, and its jade hue influenced by the Wallkill River’s muted blues.

The building also takes notes from the surrounding campus architecture. While the expanded student center stands in stark contrast to the neutral-toned concrete and brick buildings nearby, its angled roof continues the upward trajectory of an adjacent building’s ascending staircase. This attention to the building’s immediate context gives the new construction an integrated appeal, all-the-while maintaining its contemporary aesthetics.

The new building’s design has become a symbol for SUNY New Paltz, whose logo now incorporates the glass and metal pyramid. The exposed and triangulated framing underneath the glass zigzags across its fractal silhouette. Reflecting this exposed framing is the outdoor seating with its contemporary wireframe where students can enjoy the fresh air and sun while studying.