Urban Design | Zahner

Pacific Plaza Park Pavilion

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

The City of Dallas hired SWA Group to masterplan one of several site in Downtown Dallas since they are experts at understanding the benefits of urban heat island reduction. HKS Line was brought in to work in concert with them, developing geometries and patterns for an elegant open-air pavilion, which draws inspiration from the former railroads that transited through Dallas during the westward expansion.

Zahner was brought on board to provide Zahner Assist services, budgeting and ultimately engineering and fabrication of 323 unique perforated panels that make up the elliptical pavilion. For those conversant with Morse code, the perforated panels can tell a story. In addition to reducing the urban island heat, it also provides dappled light for casual visitors.

Pacific Park Pavilion

Photo by Ramsey Attia, ARKO | © A. Zahner Company

Pacific Park Pavilion

Photo by Ramsey Attia, ARKO | © A. Zahner Company

Pacific Park Pavilion

Photo by Ramsey Attia, ARKO | © A. Zahner Company

Pacific Park Pavilion

Photo by Ramsey Attia, ARKO | © A. Zahner Company

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.

Hyatt Regency Houston

January 4, 2017/in Art & Sculpture Hospitality, Public Art, Sculpture, Urban Design Houston--Texas Gensler Brown M 2015 /by cmorris

Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston, Texas

The Hyatt Regency Houston is a new hotel development designed by Gensler which includes several features made using Zahner engineering and fabrication. Among the features provided by Zahner: a massive art wall at the building’s porte-cochère, steel signage at its entrance, and a series of interior lobby partition walls screen dividers manufactured in Solanum Steel.

These architectural details are part of the new 260,000-square-foot, 14-story Hyatt Regency Hotel. Located next to the Houston Galleria, the new construction builds on an existing two-story retail building which was partially demolished and integrated into the new design.

Related Surface

Hyatt Regency Houston

Art wall, fabricated in Solanum Steel and aluminum, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston.

The Hyatt River Art Wall

The artist team responsible for developing the art wall Lester Yuen, Michael Gajevsky and Nancy Nodler. Yuen worked closely with L. William Zahner to develop the artwork, using polished aluminum plate to show a topographical section of the Buffalo Bayou river in Houston, Texas.

The artwork is located under the covered driveway entrance for the hotel. The base layers of the artwork are made using plate aluminum and clad in a final layer of weathering steel with a preweathered finish. Each plate was cut using automated CNC machinery at Zahner. These have a polished edge and are secured below the final layer of Solanum Steel.

Gensler partnered with Zahner’s Design Assist team at the project’s inception to ensure that the project could be developed within the client’s budget. In addition to reducing the overall cost, this process also improved the end quality of the details.

Art wall sections are manufactured in the Zahner shop facility.

Art wall at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston.

Detail of the steel and aluminum connection.

Interior steel partition walls made in preweathered steel.

Zahner-manufactured interior screen wall dividers at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston.

Details of the joints for the art wall at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston.

Detail of the Hyatt River Regency art wall joints.

Light reflects against the aluminum artwork.

Pomona Planters

December 26, 2016/in Landscape Architecture Retail & Commerce, Urban Design Kansas City Young + Dring Grey, White S 2010 /by cmorris

Tree Surrounds and Planter Systems for Power & Light District

Working with Young + Dring, Zahner provided custom metalwork for planters in the Power & Light District of Kansas City. As the largest single implementation of streetscape in the downtown area, the installation of 180 Ginkgo trees resulted in a verdant urban forest.

Focused on tree health and long-term growth, custom planters and metal tree-surrounds were functionally and aesthetically designed by Young+Dring, which were then fabricated and installed by Zahner. Each of the aluminum plate planters was water jet cut to manufacture the patterned metal.

The award-winning Power & Light District is part of the current downtown Kansas City renaissance. In an ongoing effort since 2005, Young + Dring have participated in the revitalization of seven city blocks. The result is a more verdant, more walkable space in downtown Kansas City.

Related System

Pomona Planters

Detail of the Young+Dring planter boxes for the Power & Light District

Detail of the Young+Dring tree surrounds for the Power & Light District

Fabrication in the Zahner shop for the Young+Dring planters

Gaines Residence

December 26, 2016/in Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture Renovation, Residential, Urban Design Columbia--Missouri J.E. Cundiff Black, Silver M 2001 /by cmorris

Gaines Residence in Columbia, Missouri

The Gaines Residence is a unique home design and renovation in Columbia Missouri which features Zahner metalwork throughout its interior and exterior. Designed by architect J.E. Cundiff, the residence uses two custom stainless steel surfaces: a hand-polished abrasive polish on stainless steel, and a black interference stainless steel with mirror polish. The mirror polish on the stainless steel is the highest polish available for stainless steel, a #9 polish.

Each of these custom surfaces are used sparingly and in alteration to provide elegant accents the the residence. Zahner was hired to provide each of these stainless steel fabricated elements, as well as the custom railing, tree grates, and interior metalwork and various metal scopes within the residence.

Rear porch of the Gaines Residence in Columbia, Missouri.

Black mirror interference stainless steel clads both the interior and exterior of the Gaines Residence

The residence is framed through stainless steel buttresses of each of thew two finishes. These views which frame the north and east profiles of the home.

The building started off as a renovation, but the design transformation was fairly radical. The living and dining rooms open up to the front terrace with redbud trees which rise through custom, stainless-steel tree grates.

“By the time we were done, there was one wall of the original main floor left… At first glance the structure appears to give a nod to Phillip Johnson, while experiencing the home suggests possibly more influence from Arthur C. Clarke,”
— Architect J.E. Cundiff discussing the Gaines Residence

Although technically a renovation, much of the original building was replaced. The project is majority new construction in innovative materials and custom fabrication. Expansive views of the surrounding forestry were created by using large glass, butt-glazed corners in many areas of the house.

Details of the Handrails for Gaines Residence

Custom tree gate planter for the tree surrounds at Gaines Residence

Architect's drawings of the Gaines Residence show north and east elevation

Detail of the custom guardrails for Gaines Residence

Custom metal and glass table for the Gaines Residence

Pritzker Pavilion

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Performance Center, Public Art, Urban Design Chicago--Illinois Frank Gehry Partners Silver L 2004 /by cmorris

Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park

Pritzker Pavilion is a one-hundred-foot proscenium located at the North end of Millennium Park in Chicago. Designed by Frank Gehry Partners and manufactured with structural forms by Zahner.

The project consists of fourteen distinct forms, which visually appear as a cohesive whole. Each of these distinct forms is made using a straight stick steel primary structure. A secondary structure manufactured by Zahner attaches to the primary and is then clad in stainless steel by Zahner.

Each of these fourteen shapes serve to form the bandshell, providing protection from the elements while creating a focal point at the stage and orchestra pit of this dynamic outdoor amphitheater. Architects at Frank Gehry Partners began working with Zahner on this project in 1999, which was completed in 2004.

In total there were 697 prefabricated assemblies shipped to the jobsite. These assemblies were clad with over 3,000 stainless steel sheets measuring 2′ x 4′ on average. The sheets used for this project are 22ga Angel Hair finish on A316 stainless steel, a high performance stainless steel alloy containing molybdenum, a metal which provides high corrosion resistance for the metal.

The structure reaches a height of one-hundred twenty feet. In several areas, the structure curves back on itself, becoming nearly horizontal. The metal surface of this project is clad in stainless steel with a custom flat seam panel for dual curvature. The near-flat surface it creates, allowing the viewer to focus on the entirety of the shape rather than being drawn to the individual lines. According to an interview with the architect, the proscenium was inspired by Gehry’s 2001 flagship store for Issey Miyake in New York City, a sculptured titanium also made with Zahner.

Related System

Column Cover

Custom column cover systems provide decorative and functional aspects to both interior and exterior architectural design. Column cover manufacturing has been a mainstay of A. Zahner Company's production for several decades, producing both custom and standard systems for designers all over the world.

Zahner also completed all 24 of the 6′ diameter column covers. These enclose the green area of the park and provide support for the overhead lighting and sound cage over the park. These column covers consist of heavy-gauge stainless steel plate panels rolled to shape and attached with interior fastening system. The columns range in height from 12’ to over 24’ .

Each of the column covers is clad in a 10ga stainless steel, a heavier gauge than the 22ga stainless steel cladding the proscenium.

Hoi Polloi

August 15, 2016/in Art & Sculpture, Landscape Architecture Public Art, Sculpture, Urban Design St. Louis--Missouri HNTB Lindsey Stouffer L, M 2006 /by cmorris

Hoi Polloi at Forsyth Metrolink Station

Hoi Polloi is a public artwork by Lindsey Stouffer, located at the Forsyth Metrolink stop in the greater St. Louis area. The artwork was manufactured by Zahner in Kansas City.

The Forsyth St. Louis MetroLink stop is a below-grade, open-air station located at the intersection of Forest Park Parkway and Forsyth Boulevard on the border of University City and Clayton, Missouri in the greater St. Louis metro area. The public artwork is one of nine commissioned for the St. Louis railway extension as part of the HNTB-designed Cross County Metrolink Extension.

Related Project

Capitol Federal Hall

The building features various exterior and interior metalwork, design-engineered and manufactured by Zahner. The project was completed in 2015. Zahner worked with architects Gensler and Gastinger Walker, under the construction management of JE Dunn.

Hoi Polloi public artwork for the St. Louis Metrolink at Forsyth Station.

The artwork consists of four large metal screen assemblies which face one another, divided by the metro’s train tracks. Perforations in the screens create an optical illusion, a moire effect which appears to shimmer as viewers descend into the amphitheater-like space.

The Manufacturer Behind Public Art

Zahner was selected by the artist to produce this public artwork for the St. Louis Metrolink. The artist’s plans were translated to constructible schematics through Zahner’s Design Assist program, a process whereby Zahner engineers work within a budget to develop a customized plan for building art and architecture.

After the design assist phase, the project went through a more typical engineering for production, and was then manufactured at the Zahner plant in Kansas City. The parts were crated and shipped to the jobsite, where the sculpture was assembled and installed by Zahner’s fabrication team.

Related System

Guardrail

Custom guardrail systems are a critical component of providing a design which is both safe and friendly for unique architectural environments. Zahner works with designers to provide bespoke handrail and guardrail systems for their projects.

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It’s intended to feel intimate and monolithic, durable and penetrable, relevant and timeless, specific and general.

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Perfectly Perforated

Over the early 1990's, patterned usage of perforated metal began to appear. At the time, the pattern were limited by programming. It wasn't until the early two-thousands, when Herzog & de Meuron designed the de Young Museum, that perforated metal would truly enter into its own.

Hoi Polloi explores the way a person thinks and feels entering a public space. ”It’s intended to feel intimate and monolithic, durable and penetrable, relevant and timeless, specific and general.“ — Lindsey Stouffer, the artist behind Hoi Polloi, a large-scale public artwork for the Forysthe Metrolink Station.

Zahner created the two main artworks on the site, which measure 20’ h. x 15’ w. (South), and 26’ h. x 30’ w. (North). Zahner was also responsible for crafting a custom railing system which integrates into the hardware of the perforated metal artwork.

Zahner’s involvement with the art community for both public and private artworks has steadily increased as the company produces ever-more complex and artistically innovative works of architecture.

As many works of public art do, the Hoi Polloi environmental sculpture straddles the line between fine art and architecture, and pushes the boundaries of both in the process.