Restaurant | Zahner

Blue Mesa Restaurant

Fort Worth, TX

Restaurant facade and screen in angel hair stainless steel with imagery of tree branches.

Restaurant facade and ImageWall screen in angel hair stainless steel with imagery of tree branches.

Interior of restaurant viewing ImageWall screen in angel hair stainless steel.

Detail of ImageWall screen in angel hair stainless steel.

Restaurant facade and ImageWall screen in angel hair stainless steel with imagery of tree branches.

Detail of ImageWall screen structure.

Interior of restaurant viewing ImageWall screen in angel hair stainless steel.

Morimoto

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Restaurant New York City Stephanie Goto, Tadao Ando Charcoal, Grey S 2006 /by cmorris

Morimoto in New York City

A red curtain displaying traditional Japanese noren hangs in the custom entrance for the Morimoto, a Japanese restaurant in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The facade, manufactured by Zahner in Kansas City, brings a custom touch to an otherwise standard shingle. Its blackened zinc patina on galvanized steel is both classic and modern, as is its corrugated facade.

The restaurant, named for and run by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, is designed by Stephanie Goto and Tadao Ando. This upscale Chelsea bar and restaurant is just a few steps from the South end of the High Line Park in lower Manhattan.

Zahner produced the exterior, a blackened galvanized steel corrugating wall with a wide opening for its entrance. The facade’s matte appearance is a feature of its natural patina. The system that Zahner designed with the architecture team uses a face-fastener which add an industrial aesthetic.

Related Surface

Oscura™ Blackened Steel – Archive

Oscura is a Zahner blackened patina on steel that has been developed for interior use. Activated steel surfaces create a mottled and artistic ambiance that varies from sheet to sheet. The primary surface is sealed with a clear coat to mitigate rusting due to the effects of the ambient interior environment.

FELIX

August 15, 2016/in Interior Architecture Hospitality, Restaurant Hong Kong Philippe Starck S 1994 /by cmorris

The Felix Restaurant at Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong

FELIX is an avant-garde bar and restaurant at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. Designed by Philippe Starck, the restaurant promises spectacular city views and dining that pushes the limits of culinary boundaries.

Starck’s quirky design necessitated customization on every level. Zahner provided stainless steel and zinc metalwork throughout the restaurant, including unique basket-woven zinc strip seating backs and stairwell cladding. A custom patinated zinc wall covering and hammered zinc skirting provide unique accents in the wine room and caviar bar.

The Semantic Metal Surface

When defining a logic to use a particular surface material, various aesthetic qualities such as color, texture, patterns and boundaries are often considered. In our pursuit to arrive at materials that perform over a lifetime and do not possess hidden cost to our children's future, considerations of manufacture and eventual recovery and recycling of the material must also play a part. Architectural metals achieve these design requirements. They are durable and lightweight. They can be formed, shaped, pierced, cut and machined in ways only plastics can attempt to copy.

Interior woven zinc surfaces at the Felix Hong Kong

Denny’s Flagship

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture Flagship, Furniture, Restaurant Las Vegas--Nevada James Wines Yellow M 2012 /by cmorris

Denny’s Flagship Diner in Las Vegas

Wrapped in a yolk-yellow nest of painted aluminum cantilevered ribbons, the Denny’s Flagship acts as a bright yellow beacon even at the center of 3 miles of neon lights. Denny’s executives are calling it the ‘Diner of the Future’.

James Wines of SITE in New York was chosen to lead the design of the rebranded Denny’s Flagship Diner. The team wanted to create a striking surface with visual intrigue to mark a transformation of the Denny’s brand. Zahner’s Design Assist Group worked with James Wines’ team of architects, designers, and executives to arrive at a custom formed aluminum surface. This material was shaped and then painted to create an undulating wave of yellow.

The undulating wall appears to emerge from the flat plane. Curving lace-work falls back to the surface in an unbroken, seamless manner. This is the Denny’s of the future.

Photograph of the completed Denny's Flagship Diner / Early rendering of the desgin.

Building a New Brand for Dennys

Over the years, Zahner has played a role in the architectural rebranding for various flagship properties such as Nike, Diesel, and Burberry. More than simply producing the facades specified by the designers specify, the Zahner team offers an exploration of materials and processes, employing artistic and technical innovation to their fabrication expertise. For the Denny’s Flagship Diner, Zahner provided the architects with a tailored R&D experience.

This process usually occurs as the project begins during Design Assist. The Design Assist contract provides the design team with ways to reduce the project’s cost, improve efficiency, and explore processes that can meet the Designer’s expectations with ingenuity.

Preliminary project sketches by James Wines.

Zahner mockup tower shows Denny's prototype adjacent to the Basra Stadium mockup.

Close-up of the Denny's Flagship metalwork in Las Vegas.

Details shows the custom milled interlocking metalwork on the facade-testing tower.

Denny's Flagship Diner in Las Vegas on Fremont Street.

Fabricating the Denny’s Facade

The intricate metal surface was water jet cut using a pattern provided by the architects. The pieces were all pre-assembled in the Zahner shop. Zahner produced the facade to meet code requirements and added concealed joinery for visual aesthetic. Where exposed bolts were used, a custom milled interlocking system was implemented to provide visually seamless connections. The surfaces were painted locally using a bright yellow painted finish to match the Denny’s corporate branding.

The building began fabrication in July 2012 and was completed in November 2012. Working to promote James Wine’s vision, the Zahner team helping bring the design to life.

Column covers at the Zahner shop during fabrication.

Denny’s Flagship Diner in Las Vegas on Fremont Street.

Images courtesy SITE | Matthew Gindlesperger.

Clyde Frazier NYC

August 15, 2016/in Interior Architecture Restaurant New York City Morphosis Black, Blue, Blue-grey, Brown, Charcoal, Gold, Green, Grey, Indigo, Light blue, Magenta, Orange, Red, Silver, Violet, White, Yellow M 2012 /by cmorris

Clyde Frazier’s Wine & Dine in New York City

Clyde Frazier’s Wine & Dine is a new construction high-end sports bar and eatery designed by Morphosis. The space features a Zahner-manufactured ceiling, made using generative design and automated fabrication.

Designed by Morphosis for NBA Champion and former New York Knicks Player Walt Clyde Frazier, this New York City restaurant expands a full city block in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. A swarm of suit jackets dominates the central corridor of Clyde Frazier’s Wine and Dine, a 10,000 square foot experience which mixes American and Asian cuisines.

Zahner provided the ceiling architectural feature. This ceiling is made up of custom cut and folded aluminum plates, 544 in total. The aluminum plates are printed from photographs of Mr. Frazier’s suit jackets. These parts are segmented into six unique shapes, where are placed at intervals of increasing distance. This interval placement creates the illusion that every part is unique.

Clyde Frazier's Wine & Dine in New York City.

The colors in the model categorize the panels according to breaks and sizes. Between the differing anchor placements, prints, panel sizes, and panel shapes, all 544 aluminum panels ended up being unique.

Even more complex were the ribs which held them in place. Because the panels were anchored at different angles, every drill hole had to be custom placed. Thus, each of the 69 ribs had 6 segments for a total of 463 segments, each with 3 unique faces.

3D model for Clyde Frazier's Wine and Dine.

“The transformative feature in the room, however, is suspended from the ceiling, where a 170-foot-long assemblage of colorful, patterned, flat and folded aluminum fins floats over the dining area, bar, and lounge. Morphosis found the stripes, plaids, and prints for this polychromatic sculptural reef in Frazier’s closets.

The architects photographed their contents and, working with Zahner’s metal fabricators, digitally printed images for a film adhesive applied to 544 aluminum panels of six shapes. The palette varies from blue to brown-gold to charcoal, with red painted undersides enhancing the gestalt. ‘It’s mesmerizing,’ says Frazier.” — Suzanne Stephens, Architectural Record.