Exterior Architecture

Dome on the Plaza

The Dome on the Country Club Plaza

Working with Gastinger Walker Harden Architects and Highwood Properties, Zahner produced the subtly spiraling domed roof for Baja 600 Restaurant on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City. Zahner designed, engineered, fabricated, and installed the Dome using zinc with custom patina.

The Dome on The Plaza uses Roano Zinc, a preweathered zinc with custom patina. The Roano Zinc surface is an aged patina whose variegated tones vary from panel to panel, creating an aged aesthetic suitable for both contemporary and historic architecture.

Domed roofs are complex feats of engineering, and this one is no different. Constructing the dome’s cladding required sophisticated planning and layout. Each row of panels is characterized by a unique panel shape, requiring over twenty panel types. Zahner engineers mapped the thirty foot diameter dome so that the complex surface would be easily installed.

Roano Zinc patina featured as part of the Dome on the Plaza.

Photograph of the Dome on the Plaza after decade of aging.

Roano Zinc-clad Dome on the Country Club Plaza during installation.

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.

de Young Museum

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture Museum San Francisco Bay Fong & Chan Architects, Herzog & de Meuron Brown, Gold, Green, Red XL 2005 /by cmorris

M. H. de Young Memorial Museum

Named for San Francisco newspaperman M. H. de Young, this building is a completely reworked redesign from the original museum, which opened in 1895 as an outgrowth of the California International Exposition of 1894. After the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 which completely ravaged the original building’s structure, the de Young board began working to fund a restructuring of the building, and the resulting winner of the competition for its redesign in the late 1990’s was acclaimed Swiss architects, Jacques Herzog & Pierre de Meuron.

Herzog & de Meuron developed the idea of a variably perforated screen exterior which would mirror the green foliage and forestry of the surrounding Golden Gate Park, San Francisco’s central park. The architects worked with Zahner whose engineers and software specialists developed a system which would allow unique perforation and patterned dimples, variably sized and placed throughout the exterior. This included near 8000 unique facade panels — the collective whole which formed patterns of light as seen through trees. This was the first iteration of the Zahner Interpretive Relational Algorithmic Process, or the ZIRA Process.

“

Craftsmanship in large buildings is supposed to be dead, killed by Modernist ideology and cost considerations. What this building says is that maybe craftsmanship has a high-tech future after all.

Time MagazineNone.

Aerial view of the de Young Museum in San Francisco, California

Aerial view of the de Young Museum roof.

Inverted Seam roof system and channel design for the de Young Museum roof

Outdoor cafe under the de Young Museum canopy awning

At the time, this mosaic algorithmic process was emerging, but was undeveloped in the use of perforated and embossed metal. Zahner assembled a team of software developers and engineers to assist in this technological advancement.

The architects came up with a photo taken pointed up through the trees, and in several parts of the museum, light filters through the perforated system of holes, revealing shadows similar in shape and form to those of actual trees. ZIRA technology was developed to streamline this complex series of variable holes in the copper, allowing engineers to run chosen imagery through the algorithmic system, translating it to the thousands of copper plates.

Source imagery and installed panel system for the ‘Children’s Entry’ at the de Young Museum.

Above left, the surface of the ‘Children’s Entry’ was created using imagery from a photograph provided by the architects (right). The vantage point looks up into a sky obscured by trees. Similarly, the section of the Museum featuring this surface was initially open, recreating the effect on metal. Since installation, the area has been covered for moisture control.

“

… A sensual copper skin that will evolve over time.

Sarah Amelarauthor, Architectural Record..

Architects originally called for a light golden-hued appearance for the Museum. However, as the intentions evolved, a desire for the Museum to blend and emerge from its forested surroundings like an ancient indigenous structure.

De Young Museum cover feature in Architectural Record

The November, 2005 issue of "Architectural Record" magazine has placed the New de Young Museum on their cover and, in a section devoted to museum projects around the world [pages 104—115].

Patina transition over time on the de Young Museum

Zahner helped to guide this decision for the client. Understanding how copper alloys weather over time, and understanding the integrity and durability of the material is key to its selection process. Zahner brought the clients into the fold of this knowledge, educating the design team on how over the next few decades, the copper facade and roof would transition from its bright golden red, to a dark brown, to a black, and finally, after a decade or more, it will slowly emerge into earthy greens.

In clean air environments — which San Francisco generally has great air quality — this process can take much longer. Copper oxidizes quickly in polluted areas. In cleaner environments, this process could take twenty to thirty years.

The following information is a snapshot of the building statistics:

Area of copper panels on the building: 129,900 square feet of copper panels.
Area of copper on the roof cladding: 55,500 square feet of copper panels and 6,500 linear feet of custom battens.
Area of copper on the tower: 33,218 square feet of copper panels.
Number of panels — Main building: 5,757; Roof: 3,513; Tower: 1,845.
Number of perforations — Building: 920,699; Tower: 803,229
There are approximately 1,500,000 bumps of the surface. This includes the four levels of bumps that go in and four levels that come out. These bumps, along with the flat plane, results in nine different levels of surface texture.
Pounds of copper utilized. . .1,121,992. This translates too. . .2,201 cubic feet or 1 sheet of copper that is 1 meter wide by 21.6 miles long.
The 70,000 pounds of the custom alloy, custom bronze extrusions utilized for the tower system were also designed and engineered by Zahner.

Dayton Residence

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Residential Vail--Colorado James Dayton Design Brown M 2009 /by cmorris

Dayton Residence in Vail, Colorado

The Dayton Residence is a private mountain home conceived by the architects at James Dayton Design in Minneapolis. Completed in 2009, the project began as a renovation of an existing 70’s ski lodge and expanded into a new construction.

Zahner developed details and provide Solanum Steel, Zahner’s exclusive darkened weathering steel panel system. The variegated material provides improved performance over Cor-ten steel, which has a tendency to stain adjacent surfaces. Zahner provided engineering, fabrication, delivery, and installation for the project.

Related Surface

Dayton Residence

Serenity at the Dayton Residence in Vail, Colorado.

Snow falls at the Dayton Residence in Vail, Colorado.

Drawing diagram of the Dayton Residence in Vail, Colorado.

DFW Airport

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Airport, Transportation Dallas--Texas Corgan Associates, HKS, HNTB, HOK Silver XL 2005 /by cmorris

Dallas Fort Worth Airport, Terminal D

The new Terminal D at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport is the largest square-foot project completed to date using Zahner’s Inverted Seam roof and facade system. The new terminal was built to give international travelers a lasting positive impression of their arrival and departure from the United States.

The building envelope for this work includes approximately 500,000 square feet of surface covered with 11 acres of stainless steel cladding for the roof. Just over two miles of gutter and five miles of fascia panels adorn the roof. The entirety of the building envelope metal system was included in the scope for the Zahner team. Zahner worked with the architects at HNTB, Corgan Associates, and HKS, to complete this vast project.

Aerial photo of the DFW Airport Terminal D with Inverted Seam roof system.

Energy Efficiency

The Zahner Inverted Seam roof is part of the total low-energy solution for the project, reducing the cooling costs by more than 90 percent during peak electrical demand hours. The Terminal D development program includes design of the airport’s central thermal storage tank, a structure that utilizes less expensive electricity at night to create a store of ice to cool the terminal during daytime hours when rates are higher. The project was reviewed by the Clean Airport Initiative team of experts to evaluate incorporated features of sustainable design and to use it as a case study for upcoming guidelines for sustainable airport design.

Zahner roofing team installs the stainless steel skins on the DFW Terminal D roof.

Aerial photograph of the DFW Terminal D.

Zahner field installation crew during construction of the Inverted Seam roof system.

Daeyang Gallery

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Museum, Residential Asia, International, Seoul--South Korea E.Rae Architects, Steven Holl Architects Red M 2011 /by cmorris

WRNS Studio is an architecture and planning firm that provides sustainable design for education, healthcare, transportation, civic and urban mixed-use. The award-winning firm is recognized nationally, and is based in San Francisco with offices in New York City and Honolulu.

The firm has developed a growing number of works with Zahner, starting with the the Studio Libeskind-designed Contemporary Jewish Museum in which WRNS served as Architect of Record. Since then, Zahner has worked with WRNS on a number of projects, develop their unique design concepts into custom architectural systems, featured below.

Daeyang Gallery and House

Designed by Steven Holl Architects with architect of record E.Rae Architects of Seoul, this unique structure serves dual purposes, as both a residential guest house as well as an art gallery for visitors. JongSeo Lee of Steven Holl Architects was the associate in charge, and the project was completed in 2011.

The structure’s geometry is inspired by a John Cage sketch for a music score by the composer Istvan Anhalt, ‘Symphony of Modules,’ which Cage illustrated in an abstract form. The unusual shaped composition has now been reimagined as the plan layout of the Daeyang residence, continuing the chain from music, to art, to architecture.

This state of continued change and process informs many aspects of the building. Zahner worked closely with both the owner and the design team to develop a custom patina for the copper panel system that would match the desired coloration with natural warmth and texture.

Related Surface

Daeyang Gallery

Because of the unique range of tones and the material’s rich aging process, copper holds a special significance in the hearts and minds of those at Zahner. The material’s tone and color is perpetually in a state of flux, changing with each location based on the temperature, moisture, and pollutants in its environment.

This constant state of change will add character and soul to the gallery’s surface. The custom deep red tone that was developed will likely darken over time, and eventually may even begin to green and blue. The difference between copper and other materials, is that this constant state of ‘corrosion’ is actually the process of forming a stunningly beautiful protective barrier which will outlast any sealer, paint, or protective coating.

View through the slats of the Daeyang Gallery entrance.

Architect's model of the Daeyang Gallery and House.

Front gates of the Daeyang Gallery and House.

Detail of the copper patina for the Daeyang Gallery and House.

Panoramic of the Daeyang Gallery and House during construction.

Bamboo form construction for Daeyang Gallery and House.

Copper wall panel for the Daeyang Gallery and House.

Daeyang Gallery and House during construction.

Installation of wall panel systems for Daeyang Gallery and House.

The custom panels were installed by local workers in Seoul, South Korea. Zahner supplied the pre-engineered panels which securely locked into the substructure. Photographs of the completed building can be viewed at Steven Holl Architects website.

Crosstown Substation

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Industrial Kansas City Pendulum James Woodfill Brown M 2013 /by cmorris

Crosstown Substation Renovation for the KCP&L

The architects at Pendulum developed a synthesizing design which combines elements of public art, architecture, and kinetic motion-based visual arts to create a low-profile barrier wall wrapping the KCP&L Substation.

Prior to the new design, the corner of 18th and Locust was deteriorating. KCP&L replaced the wall with a new design, including commissioned artwork, that would reflect the Crossroads’ artistic community spirit.
.

The winning design by Pendulum included a space for the light artist James Woodfill to create a kinetic display. As the sun sets, an animated display of lights takes over: 10,500 color-changing LED lights alternate to create an illusion of motion, powered by 117 solar panels.

Photograph of the Crosstown Substation west facade at dusk.

Crosstown Substation designed by Pendulum, featuring Solanum weathering steel metalwork.

Custom cylinder sidewalk lights cast unique shadows through perforations.

The Crosstown Substation, featuring a prepatinated weathering steel custom wall system.

Detail of the Crosstown Substation during daylight.

Manufacturing the Weathering Steel Facade for Pendulum Architects

Zahner was brought on to provide a weathering steel surface that would endure all four seasons in Kansas City, as well as provide a worn steel aeshtetic with minimal corrosion and staining of adjacent surfaces. Using the Solanum Steel process, Zahner was able to provide a warm steel patina. Zahner also worked closely with the project team to provide all structural steel and fabrication required for the project.

Rendering of Crosstown Substation, designed by Pendulum Architects in Kansas City.

Mockup of Crosstown Substation, installed on-site at the previous park.

History of the Crosstown Substation

Originally the KCP&L station was the site of the Holmes Square Park. Designed by George Kessler, the park was originally opened in 1897, the same year A. Zahner Company was founded by Andrew Zahner. The park was directed by Elenore Canny, who was sworn in by the Kansas City Police Department in 1910, becoming the first woman to serve and protect as a police officer in Kansas City, Missouri, and also one of the first female police officers in America.

KCP&L has decided to place a plaque on the gate of the substation commemorating the Holmes Square Park and the accomplishments of Elenor Canny. The material and construction of the plaque was generously donated by A. Zahner Company.

Project Team

Architect/Designer: Pendulum
General Contractor: Turner Construction, Inc.
Lighting Consultant: Derek Porter Studio
Structural Engineer: Du Bois Consultants
Commissioned Artist: James Woodfill
Steel Contractor/Fabricator/Supplier: Zahner

Awards and Recognition

2014 EDC Cornerstone Award Winner for Energy
2014 Kansas City Chapter AGC Building Excellence Award

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.

Related Project

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.

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.

Margaret M. Walter Wing at the Columbus Museum of Art

The new Margaret M. Walter Wing of the Columbus Museum of Art is a contemporary work of architecture featuring both interior and exterior custom-patinated copper sheets manufactured by Zahner.

In 2013, the Columbus Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted in favor of beginning construction on a new expansion project which would enable the Museum to bring global exhibitions to the residents of Columbus, Ohio. The museum reached out to DesignGroup principal Michael Bongiorno whose design team, including Keoni Fleming, Annie Neumer, and Joseph Mayer, developed a strategy for the museum’s expansion. The expansion’s centerpiece, the Margaret M. Walter Wing, adds 50,000 square feet to the total square footage of the Museum’s available gallery space, and is expected to reach a LEED Silver certification.

Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio.

Columbus Museum of Art, East facade, glass, and limestone.

Columbus Museum of Art, detail of the custom copper soffit.

Columbus Museum of Art, detail of the custom copper flashing and metalwork.

The architects worked with their client to develop a design which would pair the Museum’s rich history with its promising future. The designers achieved this balance in many ways, including aesthetics. The design of the building’s form is contemporary, featuring many modern architectural touches, while its surface is an antiqued copper, a rich material which would normally require decades of weathering to achieve.

Developing the Architectural Copper Panels with Custom Patina

Zahner has worked with patinated copper and copper-alloys since the company’s establishment in 1897, but it was only a recent advancement by Zahner’s research and development team that allowed the firm to match naturally aged copper.

Typically, architectural copper panels are installed as raw or ‘red’ copper sheets, and while this color will quickly morph from reflective reflective pinks and reds to a matte brown surface, it will still take another few decades before the metal fully patinates into the blues and greens.

An example of this slow patination process is the de Young Museum in California, which Zahner manufactured and installed in 2003-2005 as unpatinated copper panel system. Ten years later, the surface is now starting to show signs of green along the panel seams, but the overall tone is still a deep matte burnt umber tone. It is likely another ten to twenty years before the de Young will take on a green hue.

For the new CMA building, Zahner sped up the process. Zahner engineers manufactured pre-weathered custom blue-green copper using a rapid patina process. A process that normally takes twenty to thirty years was achieved in the span of a few weeks.

Zahner fabricated the building’s custom flashing and standing seam roof and supplied the pre-patinated copper sheets for the copper wall panels. Keith Panel Systems (KPS) engineered and fabricated the wall panels on their KPS System ‘A’ which provides a compartmentalized and pressure-equalized rainscreen. Phinney Industrial Roofing coordinated the work with KPS and successfully completed the installation as the sub-contractor to Corna Kokosing Construction.