Exterior Architecture

Irving Courtyard

Irving Courtyard Screenwall at Kansas City Art Institute

The Irving Courtyard Screenwall is a large gateway, entry and artwork designed by Gastinger Walker and made by Zahner for the Kansas City Art Institute, completed in 2006. The architecture firm worked with Zahner engineers and fabricators to design, build, and install the sculptural screen which protects the school’s northwest entrance.

The design uses a custom die and unique pattern. Zahner software translated the architect’s pattern into a machine language to custom perforate the panels. The material is a preweathered corten or weathering steel surface.

Related Project

Irving Courtyard

Exterior view of the perforated metal gateway entry for Kansas City Art Institute.

Custom obround die-shapes were used to create the oval perforation patterns in the weathering steel.

The large gate provides a sense of privacy while allowing for open events at the school.

The perforated metal gate motif continues onto the brick wall as an wall-mounted metal artwork.

New Castle County Library

January 4, 2017/in Exterior Architecture Library New Castle--Delaware Studio Hillier Brown, Green M 2001 /by cmorris

Brandywine Hundred Library in New Castle County

The Brandywine Hundred Library in New Castle is designed by Studio Hillier and features a Zahner manufactured colonnade with a custom copper patina. The building’s forms recall a historic aesthetic, while its large windows emphasize its natural setting.

Strongly rooted in the landscape and history of the Brandywine Valley, the new 40,000 gross square foot library serves as a 21st century meeting house, expressing and enhancing modern interconnectivity.

The project includes a custom patinated copper canopy which was fabricated by Zahner for the building’s entry soffit. 290 sheets of copper were processed to develop a unique and rustic patina across its surface. This is an early architectural example of custom preweathered patina on copper.

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New Castle County Library

Detail of Brandywine Hundred Library in New Castle County

At the end of the colonnade, an outdoor amphitheater creates the library’s storytelling center. The building is composed of two parts—the smaller encompassing the community center, the larger housing the library’s 100,000 volumes, including a reading area with fireplace. The building is fully wired for computers, accommodates 350, and features a 50-seat café and 200-car secure parking lot.

Related Project

Irving Convention Center

The project features a Zahner-engineered and produced copper curtain-wall. The entire surface of the project is custom perforated and bumped with a pattern unique to the building. The surface integrates the ZIRA Process for generating the embossed and punched surface.

Prepatinated copper canopy caps the colonnade for Brandywine Hundred Library

Prepatinated copper skins for Brandywine Hundred Library in the Zahner shop

Washington Elementary

January 4, 2017/in Exterior Architecture Education, Passive Security Sacramento--California HMC Architects Brown, Silver M, S 2016 /by cmorris

Washington Elementary School in Sacramento

Washington Elementary School in Sacramento features a number of unique metal elements manufactured by Zahner using ImageWall for custom perforated metal. Working for Landmark Construction with the designers at HMC Architects, Zahner provided the screens with custom perforated imagery on stainless steel and pre-weathered steel. These screen elements were used to provide passive security and signage while expressing the school’s creativity, science, and technology — marking a new shift towards practicing the STEAM curriculum (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics).

To establish this new shift in education, Sacramento City Unified School District partnered with city leaders and Principal Dr. Gema Godina-Martinez to envision the transformative shift and redesign of Washington Elementary School. The school pursued a STEAM academic program, becoming a magnet for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math education.

HMC Architects was challenged to redesign classrooms and collaborative learning areas not only to support student-centered learning, but to also influence the culture of the school’s educational experience. The project had a tight schedule. This transformation needed to be completed in less than a year to meet the Fall 2016 grand re-opening.

North entrance with perforated images of

North entrance for Washington Elementary School in Sacramento.

When HMC Architects developed the gate design for Washington Elementary, one of the considerations dictating the design decisions was how to provide security for the elementary school students. The project team employed passive security design measures by developing an open-air security gate which would ensure student’s safety while also promoting a playful STEAM atmosphere.

The architects came up with a creative security solution: the picture perforation pattern is more open at children’s height, while densely perforated at adult heights of 4′ to 6′ — ensuring that young students have greater visibility while adults will have greater difficulty seeing into the open air school commons.

Passive Security in Architecture

If you're designing a building for security, it's important to think about how your design's defenses can be met sustainably — and to also consider how these measures can be achieved without antagonizing its inhabitants.

North screenwall at Washington Elementary.

North screenwall with the Washington Elementary in Sacramento.

DETAIL OF THE LOGO SCREENWALL FOR THE WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY IN SACRAMENTO.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

The contractor attached Zahner perforated panels to a galvanized steel structure.

South screenwall at Washington Elementary.

Detail of perforated stainless with Angel Hair finish at Washington Elementary.

Detail of the North entrance gate for Washington Elementary.

North entrance with gear motif on the school's entrance.

NORTH SCREENWALL WITH LOGO FOR THE WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY IN SACRAMENTO.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Detail of perforated stainless steel at Washington Elementary.

Original signage for the Washington School House.

Perforated stainless steel doors at Washington Elementary.

Detail of the perforated stainless steel door.

Livermore Outlets

January 4, 2017/in Art & Sculpture, Exterior Architecture Retail & Commerce San Francisco Bay FCGA Architecture Brown, Gold S 2015 /by cmorris

ImageWall system, for San Francisco Premium Outlets®

In 2015, Zahner provided the San Francisco Premium Outlets with a perforated metal artwall, installed in an outdoor area of the public mall development. Gates + Associates provided the landscape design for the entire development’s expansion, adding 185,000 SF to the project. This addition makes the project the largest outlet mall in the state of California.

Gates + Associates worked with Zahner’s ImageWall team to develop the artwall, which was shipped and installed by the architect’s contractor. The design is rolling landscape which depicts the surrounding area’s vineyards. Manufactured in Dirty Penny copper, the patina will continue to weather and grow in its depth over time. Since the copper patina is exposed to the outdoors, the oxidization will eventually turn dark brown, and then after a few decades, will become green.

The San Francisco Premium Outlets is Located in Livermore, California, the campus is part of the greater San Francisco region, and is located amongst some of California’s oldest vineyards. The development is state’s largest outdoor outlet shopping mall, and includes high end brand stores atypical of outlet malls, including Prada, Gucci, and Coach. The addition brought a number of new arrivals, including Versace, Jimmy Choo, Tory Burch, Rag & Bone, and Dsquared.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Afternoon light cuts across the copper surface of the Livermore artwork.

Scene75

January 4, 2017/in Exterior Architecture Retail & Commerce Milford--Ohio RT Design Studio Charcoal, Red M 2015 /by cmorris

Scene75 Entertainment Center

Scene 75 is a retail renovation designed by RT Design Studio featuring a fin-based facade system developed by Zahner. The project entailed a conversion of a pre-existing box store into an indoor entertainment center in Milford, Ohio.

The project was an aggressive schedule. The entire process from design to fabrication was completed in less than four months. The building’s signage system integrates a marquee installation, made using CloudWall, a patented system developed by Zahner. The marquee overhangs the main entrance, and is made of red-painted aluminum profiles.

The design was made using parametric design of varying depth CNC cut aluminum fins, undulating to produce a smooth wave. The fully engineered system accommodates a 22’x16’ lighted sign in the middle. Programmable LED lights animate the exterior fin-based facade at night. Among other latest generation arcade gaming equipment and party rooms, the building features: Laser Maze, Go-Karts, mini golf, mini bowling, 4D Theater, Chaos Room, full bar, and a restaurant.

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Scene75

Scene 75 facade at dusk in Milford, Ohio.

OneEleven

January 4, 2017/in Exterior Architecture LEED, Residential Chicago--Illinois Handel Architects Grey M 2014 /by cmorris

OneEleven is a Chicago luxury residential tower designed by Handel Architects. The facade includes a Zahner-manufactured architectural detail made using plate aluminum. Located at 111 West Wacker Drive, the building was converted from an uncompleted hotel which had sat vacant for several years. Handel Architects were able to salvage the shell and add an additional 25 stories to create a 60-story residential building.

Zahner created the human-scale artistic details which adorn the front facade. At the front entrance, Zahner metalwork can be seen adorning the lower levels of the building’s facade as a layering of perforated metal. Zahner worked with Handel to develop a tracery pattern depicting an abstract treescape, manufactured in painted plate aluminum.

Entrance to the OneEleven residential tower in Chicago, Illinois.

Architect's rendering of the right (West) panel system

Single panel raised into the window unit for OneEleven.

Stacked panel system prior to installing in Chicago, Illinois.

OneEleven at night in Chicago, Illinois.

Detail of the OneEleven art wall in Chicago, Illinois.

Gulch Crossing

January 4, 2017/in Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture Highrise, LEED, Retail & Commerce Nashville--Tennessee Earl Swensson Associates Brown, Violet S 2015 /by cmorris

Gulch Crossing Development in Nashville, Tennessee

In a design by Earl Swensson Associates (ESa), the Gulch Crossing development features Zahner patinated weathering steel in both its interior and exterior spaces. The dark patina on the weathering steel surface frames the building’s wood canopy, and provides a backdrop for the water feature at its entrance.

To produce the interior and exterior steel, the A588 alloy weathering steel was processed by Zahner with a custom patina process. This Solanum Steel process yielded 3000 ft² of 3mm weathering steel with the Solanum Steel patina, which was supplied to John W McDougall, Metal Fabricators. The Nashville-based company completed the metalwork and installation.

The site sits between a popular restaurant, retail, and entertainment district and a rail yard that was once the place where visitors first arrived to the city, standing where the rail lines shift direction to reconcile with the city grid. The rail line expression is reinforced with a linear infinity edge fountain running the length of the 100’ weathered steel and wood “boxcar” frame that extends beyond the building to create a sheltered outdoor plaza.

Interior weathering steel wall panels for the service desk at Gulch Crossing.

Weathering steel canopy for Gulch Crossing in Nashville.

Weathering steel and wood canopy crosses into the interior space.

Gulch Crossing provides a high walkability score, an uncommon feature for similar mid-rise buildings.

Weathering steel water feature backdrop for the Gulch Crossing entrance.

Weathering steel at sunset for the Gulch Crossing canopy.

Omni Nashville

January 4, 2017/in Exterior Architecture Hospitality Nashville--Tennessee HKS Brown S 2013 /by cmorris

Omni Nashville Hotel in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee

Omni Nashville Hotel is an 800-room hotel Designed by HKS Hill Glazier Studio. The building features Zahner pre-treated weathering steel, fabricated into custom column covers for the building’s structural supports.

The hotel serves the downtown Nashville area and it adjoining neighbor, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Zahner provided flat sheet Solanum Steel, a prepatinated weathering steel product. Made using weathering steel, Solanum is suited for interior and exterior environments. An internal pedestrian pathway provides a seamless connection from the hotel to the museum expansion; situated along the pathway are Nashville-inspired restaurants and retail spaces.

The hotel and expanded museum serve as a beacon for the Music City and Convention Center District, bringing additional entertainment space, restaurants and retail venues to downtown Nashville. Focusing on sustainability, the hotel and expansion project is expected to achieve LEED-Silver certification.

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Omni Nashville

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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.

Harim Tower

January 4, 2017/in Exterior Architecture Corporate, Highrise Asia, International, Seoul--South Korea Beck Group Silver XL 2016 /by cmorris

Harim Group Headquarters in Seoul, Korea

Harim Tower in Gangnam, Seoul is the Beck Group-designed headquarters for the Harim Group company. The building features a Zahner engineered cladding system and custom bumped and perforated stainless steel throughout the interior and exterior.

The Harim Group wanted its new corporate headquarters to reflect its focus on sustainability and caring for its employees and the public. Beck provided a unique design solution which introduced 86,000 SF of mid-rise office tower on a small but high-value site. The project includes a boardroom for Harim Group, high-end restaurants, and a café in addition to a range of office spaces.

To reduce Korea’s high energy cost and to enhance the indoor air quality, Beck designed an operable window system for natural ventilation, high performance Low-E coated windows, LED light fixtures, building automation system, green roof, rainwater harvesting system and underfloor air distribution system.

Harim Group Headquarters entrance has a curving stainless steel facade system made by Zahner.

Curved metal facade of Harim Group Headquarters in Seoul.

Curved metal 'S' shape facade of the Harim facade in stainless steel.

Making the Curved Metal Facade for Harim Group Headquarters

Working under Mijie Industrial Company, Zahner developed a custom ZEPPS feature to produce an ‘S’ shaped recess in the building’s facade. ZEPPS is the Zahner system for developing unique forms and curvatures in metal. The ‘S’ shape for Harim Tower provides a unique aesthetic and design signature for the corporate headquarters. This recessed shape also creates a low pressure zone, facilitating natural ventilation on each of the floors.

The metal system Zahner provided was developed with a deep recess cavity for the lighting system. Zahner engineers introduced a modified ZEPPS hardware component which extended the panels 14″ from the building’ surface while retaining the precision curves.

Working with Well-Light, a Korean lighting design consultant, the team installed more than 10,000 LED lights of 4,000k color temperature which show through the building’s millions of perforations. “We tested several different color temperatures,” says Jay Chung, Director of Korea Operations at Beck Group. ”When we tried 3,000k color temperature lights it looked like the building was on fire. The 4,000k lights ended up giving us the perfect light. Plus they’re energy efficient.”

Detail of the curved stainless steel facade with custom perforated emboss panels.

Detail of the custom perforated emboss used to bump and perf the stainless steel facade.

Children’s Hospital VCU

January 4, 2017/in Exterior Architecture Healthcare, LEED, Parking Structure Richmond--Virginia HKS, HKS Line Brown, Orange, Red L 2015 /by cmorris

Parking Structure for Children’s Hospital of Richmond Pavilion

The Children’s Hospital of Richmond Pavilion (CHoRP) is an HKS-designed building featuring Zahner perforated and patinated zinc throughout its exterior parking facade. The new building serves as a 15-story ambulatory pavilion built on East Broad Street between Tenth and Eleventh Street. The building consolidates existing pediatric clinics into a single urban location in downtown Richmond, Virginia.

Zahner worked with the HKS Line team to provide a custom-perforated skin on three types of patinated zinc. The second, third, and fourth floors of this new building feature a perforated facade which provides airflow into the parking contained within.

Related Project

Taubman Museum

Designed by Randall Stout Architects, the building includes a range of metal components manufactured and installed by Zahner engineers and artisans. Zahner was responsible for engineering, fabrication, and installation of the exterior secondary structure and facade. Zahner also provided interior metal surfaces for the project.