Green | Zahner

The Chrysalis

November 17, 2016/in Art & Sculpture, Exterior Architecture Performance Center, Public Art, Sculpture Columbia--Maryland Living Design Lab, Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY Marc Fornes Green L 2017 /by cmorris

The Chrysalis Amphitheatre at Symphony Woods park

The Chrysalis is a multi-purpose pavilion, sculpture, and performance center designed by Marc Fornes with Living Design Lab. Zahner manufactured and installed the exterior structure and skin system.

The Chrysalis is made of tubular steel knit together to form a structure that houses a pavilion and stage for performances. It broke ground in September 2015 and was completed and opened to the public April 22, 2017.

With its name, The Chrysalis pays homage to the larval transitionary stage of a butterfly. With its form, The Chrysalis references the low-lying cypress tree seen in the eastern United States marshland. Its enormous roots provide the structural capability for a sweeping array of performances and events. As a building, the venue will attract larger productions while also providing an intimate space for smaller gatherings.

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Film of The Chrysalis at Merriweather Post Pavilion.

The Chrysalis at Merriweather Park in Symphony Woods.

Marc Fornes’ design for The Chrysalis was brought to life by a team which architects of record Living Design Lab and landscape designer Mahan Rykiel. included Whiting Turner, ARUP, Walters Group, and Zahner.

Located in the city of Columbia in Maryland, the sculptural work is nestled in the Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods. The new construction is placed adjacent to the Merriweather Post Pavilion, a performance center in Symphony Woods Park.

Aerial photo of The Chrysalis in Columbia, Maryland.

Detail of the painted aluminum shingles and structure of The Chrysalis.

Detail of the painted aluminum shingles at grade.

Stage of The Chrysalis in Columbia, Maryland.

Rear stairway at The Chrysalis in Columbia, Maryland.

Detail of the structural aluminum and curved steel pipe.

Engraved design and construction credits at The Chrysalis in Columbia, Maryland.

East elevation of The Chrysalis in Columbia, Maryland.

The Chrysalis nearing completion in Columbia, Maryland.

3D buildup of components for The Chrysalis.

Structural system for The Chrysalis during construction.

Team Disney

November 8, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Workplace Anaheim--California, Los Angeles--California Frank Gehry Partners Blue, Green, Violet XL 1995, 1996 /by cmorris

disneyland theme park offices, Anaheim

A pillowed facade of iridescent green, blue and violet adorns the surface of the Team Disney building in Anaheim, California. Designed by Frank Gehry Partners, the building serves as the administrative offices of the Disneyland theme park.

Zahner provided the custom green interference-coated stainless steel. The iridescent surface changes from blue to green to violet when viewed at varying angles. The addition of an embossed diamond pattern creates a quilted, pillow-like effect.

At the time it was constructed, it was the largest green stainless steel surface ever produced. Completion of the structure marks the first time all administrative staff have been located in one facility since the park opened in 1955.

“We’ll get more work done in the hallways than we did in the conference rooms. This finally brings it all together.”
— Disneyland President Paul Pressler.

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Team Disney

North-side of the Team Disney Anaheim building.

Detail of the interference stainless steel at Team Disney Anaheim.

View from across the highway at Team Disney Anaheim.

40 Bond Street

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Residential New York City Handel Architects, Herzog & de Meuron Brown, Green M 2007 /by cmorris

40 Bond Street in New York City

Designed by Herzog & de Meuron with Handel Architects, 40 Bond Street is an Ian Schrager luxury residence located in the NoHo District of Manhattan. Zahner provided the building’s cladding in pre-patinated copper and mirror polish stainless steel.

The building is the first residential project in the United States designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. The residence is also the firm’s first building in New York City. The copper and stainless steel were formed as bell-shapes which adorn the facade of the building. The reflective stainless steel sits behind a layer of cast glass, creating an intriguing light effect behind the facade’s glass exterior.

Since its completion in 2007, the building 40 Bond Street has become an important architectural icon in New York City. The building has influenced the current generation of architectural developments, influencing the design of luxury residences across the city.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Viewed from certain angles, the curved glass reflects the stainless steel underneath, making them nearly as reflective as chrome. From other points of view, the glass reads simply as glass, which, because of its unconventional application, is enough to stop passersby in their tracks. “We wanted the building to look like it was shrink-wrapped in glass,” according to Ashesh Saheba of Handel Architects in an interview in Metals in Construction.

The elevation of the rear facade the facade of the front. However, instead of the stainless steel and glass, the north facade uses blackened copper. The custom copper rear facade matches the bell-shaped mullion shapes of the glass front.

Over the decades, copper will slowly evolve, developing a green patina, a protective oxidization layer which hardens on the surface. In this sense, the building will eventually come to match the tonality of the front facade, unifying aesthetics over the years.

PATINATED COPPER ON THE 40 BOND STREET'S NORTH ELEVATION.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Patinated copper on the building's north elevation.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

The Smithsonian NMAI

August 15, 2016/in Interior Architecture Exhibit, LEED, Museum Washington D.C. Jones & Jones, SmithGroup Ramona Sakiestewa Charcoal, Gold, Green L 2004 /by cmorris

THE SMITHSONIAN National Museum of the American Indian

Zahner was selected for the production of several decorative and artistic elements for the National Museum for the American Indian (NMAI). The Smithsonian-owned NMAI is dedicated to the preservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of Native Americans.

The architectural design process included a number of designers and artists, including artist Ramona Sakiestewa, architects Jones & Jones with SmithGroup, and exhibition designers at Gerald Hilferty.

Zahner worked with Hopi artist Ramona Sakiestewa to produce a copper screen wall, a permanent installation in the court of the museum which lines a walkway down to the open space. Copper was chosen to acknowledge the antiquity of the Indian people who lived in the Northeast. It was a widely used material in Mound Builder cultures, which stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, east of the Mississippi, over 2000 years ago.

Photograph of Ramona Sakiestewa (Artist) and Ilze Jones (Architect) for the Smithsonian NMAI

Photograph of Ramona Sakiestewa (Artist) and Ilze Jones (Architect) for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.

Photo © A. Zahner Company

Fabrication at Zahner HQ for the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.

Photo © A. Zahner Company

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN IN WASHINGTON D.C.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.

Photo © A. Zahner Company

Potomac Room at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.

Photo © A. Zahner Company

Copper screenwall for the National Museum for the American Indian in Washington D.C.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Detail of the COPPER SCREENWALL

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.

Photo © A. Zahner Company

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.

Photo © A. Zahner Company

SMU Collins

August 15, 2016/in Interior Architecture Education Dallas--Texas Gensler Blue, Green M 2005 /by cmorris

SMU Collins Executive Center in Dallas, Texas

Designed by Gensler for Southern Methodist University, The Collins Executive Center is a part of the Cox school of business, and serves as a way to connect students with real-world business professionals and entrepreneurs.

Zahner provided the contractors with pre-patinated copper with artistic variation. For these interior panels, Zahner used Star Blue Copper, a custom patina on copper. Zahner developed the pre-weathered copper panels in the fabrication and patination facility in Kansas City, and delivered the panels to the installers in Dallas.

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SMU Collins

Custom copper patina on interior metal panels at the SMU Collins study room.

Detail of the artistic pre-patinated copper at SMU Collins.

Sidra Medical Center

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Healthcare Asia, Doha--Qatar, International, Middle East Pelli Clarke Pelli Blue, Green, Orange XL 2014 /by cmorris

Sidra Medical and Research Center in Doha, Qatar

The Sidra Medical Center is designed by Cesar Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli with the executive architect Ellerbe Becket in Kansas City. The design is a massive Research and Medical Center which will serve both the science and health for local Qatari’s in Doha.

Zahner produced the three massive ‘wings’ which salute the sky using ZEPPS, Zahner’s process for designing and manufacturing complex structural forms. The subtle dual curvature required precise engineering and intelligent organization of components.

The Sidra project was unique for Zahner in a few different ways. Most projects produced using the ZEPPS Process feature a surface skinned with a durable metal such as stainless steel or copper. The client requested a terra cotta ceramic tile rather than a metal surface. While most environments will find stainless steel to be the highest performance materials, in environments such as a Doha, where sandstorms can blast silica into the surface, a harder, ceramic exterior facade was required.

The project was also unique for Zahner in that it was the first structure to use the Export ZEPPS. This means that instead of preassembling ZEPPS megapanels at Zahner, the ZEPPS components were fabricated and shipped in a disassembled state to Doha. There, instead of sending a field crew to Doha, local installers worked from a manual produced by Zahner. The local installers manual to produce the hundreds of unique panels in an on-site facility nearby the construction site. The panels were then crane-lifted and set by installers on each floor of the building.

Aerial photograph of Sidra, substantially completed.

Export ZEPPS for Sidra

Under normal circumstances, the ZEPPS Panels are fabricated and assembled in the Zahner shop. Each completed panel is shipped to the job site, and under ideal circumstances, installed by Zahner’s own field install team. In the case of Sidra, these ZEPPS Panels were fabricated as parts, packed, crated, and shipped in cargo containers to the site where the parts were re-assembled on site by local Qatari installers contracted by Alce Engineering. Below, a Zahner worker organizes parts for crating and shipment.

To organize this overseas project required the production of digital and paper instruction manuals particular to the Sidra Project’s Export ZEPPS. Zahner Engineers worked with the Marketing Department at Zahner to accurately convey all aspects of assembling Sidra’s Export ZEPPS Panels for prompt installation onto the structure.

Photograph of the paper version of the Export ZEPPS™ Manual for Sidra.

Assembly of an Export ZEPPS™ Panel in Doha.

About the Sidra Medical Center

Sidra is part of a new medical zone on the Education City campus. The Sidra Medical Center will also include residential accommodations for about 300 nurses, a car park and a pedestrian walkway to Weill Cornell Medical College. Sidra Medical Center houses over 500 beds for patients.

At full operation, Sidra will employ over 2,000 full time staff, including a team of highly talented and accomplished physicians and scientists to help establish the medical and research facility as a genuine center of excellence.

Oculus

August 15, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Sculpture Kansas City Reilly Hoffman Charcoal, Gold, Green S 2008 /by cmorris

Oculus Sculpture, KCAI Competition

Every other year, Zahner produces one or more artworks in conjunction with the Kansas City Art Institute’s Biennial Auction for Student Scholarships. In the 2007 year, artist Reilly Hoffman won the competition with a sculpture entitled, ‘Oculus’. Zahner manufactured the base form in aluminum, and water jet cut the parts for the sculpture. Hoffman then crafted copper and steel with his signature torch-carving techniques.

The design of the artwork is based on a smaller version of the artwork. The artwork’s concept is a sphere which has been cut into slices. Two of the slices are intertwined in a kiss. The sculpture’s exterior appearance is a rough steel, while its inner areas are clad in copper.

Although diminutive when compared to buildings, the sculpture is still quite large compared to the human scale. The large size required the use of a substructure to apply the metal surface.

To create the sculpture in its large form required making changes to the how the artwork is manufactured. Zahner engineers in the Design Assist team proposed using ZEPPS, the Zahner system developed for building curves. Using the this system enabled the team to make a light aluminum understructure to which the metal surface was attached.

This use of ZEPPS for manufacturing objects such as this one is somewhat atypical. The system is more commonly used to produce the large curved walls for uniquely shaped buildings. In situations where a rapid-installation process is required, or for installations at higher elevations, ZEPPS provides an efficient way to design, engineer, and install such unique forms.

The cad rendering above shows the effect of copper hammered through the mild steel plate. The mild steel has perforations in the side which allow for sections of the copper to show through, see below.

The project used three metals: a aluminum for its structure, copper for its core, and carbon-steel. The back and the inner sections of the sculpture are finished with the Star Blue patina on hammered copper. The sides of the sculpture are finished with water jet cut mild steel, backed by a sheet of sealed red copper, also hammered. The effect is a highly detailed and sculptural piece, which is now in a private collection.

New World Symphony

August 15, 2016/in Interior Architecture Performance Center Miami--Florida Frank Gehry Partners Blue, Green M /by cmorris

New World Symphony Bar Canopy

Designed by Frank Gehry Partners for the New World Symphony Orchestra, Gehry’s office was brought in by the client for their past work on musical venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles for which Zahner provided Design Assist consultation.

The New World Center signified a transition for Gehry’s firm. While elements of his signature style can be found in various elements throughout, around, and even on top of the new building, the structure itself is simple.

Zahner’s involvement with the New World Symphony is particular to a architectural metal accent in the atrium of the new building. Zahner used a similar interference metal surface on projects such as Antoine Predock’s Tampa Museum of Science and Industry or Frank Gehry’s Experience Music Project.

However, neither of these projects has quite the blue-green tonality of the architectural canopy produced for the New World Symphony. This is because the material selected for the project is an unusual architectural metal. The project’s interior canopy is made in titanium, a surface which is known for both its expense, and its difficult workability.

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New World Symphony

Creating the Curves of the New World Symphony Bar

This iridescent canopy presents a good example of how ZEPPS can be used to construct smaller architectural elements as well as art and sculpture. ZEPPS enables quick installation because the entire project is pre-engineered for smart installation, and it also provides the architects and artists with a digital model, allowing changes to be made via international conference meetings on the internet.

The New World Symphony Bar Canopy was broken down into buildable sections. Each of these sections is a ZEPPS Assembly, and these sections were small enough that installers could handle assemblies without the use of cranes.

Each of the ZEPPS assemblies was built and pre-connected in the Zahner shop. The ZEPPS forms are pre-skinned with an aluminum sub-surface, and then finished with Titanium skins and sealed in plastic to protect the surface from fingerprints.

CAD Image showing the totality of the bar canopy, viewed from above. ZEPPS&trades; Assembly sub-structure.

Fabricator in the Zahner shop grinds aligns ZEPPS® Panels.

Pre-assembled canopy, prior to skinning the titanium surface.

Two ZEPPS assemblies await installation.

Installing the New World Symphony Bar Canopy

The entire bar was pre-assembled at Zahner to test the connections and fit the blue-titanium skin surface. Then the ZEPPS assemblies where separated, packaged, and shipped to the New World Symphony Center construction site in Miami, Florida.

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New World Symphony

The ZEPPS assemblies were designed to be small enough that interior installers could manage each section without the use of cranes. These assemblies are also lightweight due to the aluminum construction.

Zahner installers ensure the wiring is prepared for light fixtures.

New World Symphony Bar detail of irridescent titanium surface.

Zahner installers finish the titanium edges.

Detail of the finished titanium surface.

After installing the panels, field operators finish edges and connect gaps with additional smaller ZEPPS assemblies with the titanium skins.

Although Zahner was only involved in creating the interior metalwork, one of the most intriguing aspects of the symphony hall is the ongoing outdoor wallcasts, projected videos of performances for the general public. These outdoor events are free to the public, and have created a sense of community among Miami residents.

Kansas City Star

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Industrial, LEED Kansas City Austin Group Green L 2006 /by cmorris

Kansas City Star Production Facility

The production facility for the Kansas City Star includes a locally manufactured, custom-patinated copper, created by Zahner for the building’s facade. The new production facility for the Kansas City Star was designed and developed by The Austin Company, an engineering design firm specializing in large-scale industrial facilities.

Zahner developed a preweathered copper patination system for this building. An estimated 4155 pre-patina copper panels were installed on the building’s surface to create the 80,000 SF surface area. The building’s green surface is mottled and variegated, a patina designed to age the building’s copper surface by 200 years. The natural patina will continue to grow and change in appearance as it ages. The patina provides a layer of natural protection for the copper alloy.

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Custom Patinated Copper

Zahner has developed proprietary techniques to preweather copper and copper-alloyed sheets with deep, rich patinas not unlike those that formerly took several decades to develop naturally. Some of these techniques can develop the rich green and blue tones of cupric nitrate on the copper surface. Other techniques will develop browns, yellows, and oranges in various hues.

The Kansas City Star Production Facility.

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.

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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.