Kansas City | Zahner

Pembroke Hill Dining Hall

March 26, 2024/in Art & Sculpture Education Kansas City Gould Evans Associates, Multistudio Jan Hendrix Silver M 2021 /by Katie Barone

Zahner’s latest metal artwork collaboration with world-renowned artist Jan Hendrix is now on display at Pembroke Hill’s new dining hall. Part of a $52 million campus addition, the stainless steel artwork dazzles passersby with its organic pattern and reflective allure.

When Pembroke Hill and a donor approached Zahner about introducing art as part of the sun shading system for the 37-foot high barrel-vaulted dining hall, Zahner engaged Hendrix for the project. Since Hendrix’s art is highly influenced by nature, he created two botanical images for the massive glass walls. Hendrix wanted the students to feel as if they were inside a living plant.

Zahner cut the images out of stainless steel and engineered layers of stainless steel and developed a method of holding the stainless steel panels in place with the glass walls. The end result was an incredible work of art on a budget that was not much more than that of a conventional horizontal sunscreen. All panels are accessible and removable.

The filtered light through the leaf-patterned veins fosters a soothing environment for daily student gatherings and other special events. The installation, blending nature and artistry, aims to captivate students and encourage a deeper connection with the environment.

CEO Bill Zahner is pleased to be part of the largest and most visible Hendrix work in Kansas City. “We’ve worked with him all over the world,” he said. “And now we have a beautiful piece in town that everyone can enjoy.”

Stainless steel screens over the windows of the Pembroke Hill dining hall, designed by artist Jan Hendrix.

Close-up view of the stainless steel screen system, showing the dual layers of screens.

Interior view of the Pembroke Hill dining hall and Jan Hendrix window installation.

Interior view of the metal screens system.

Exterior view of the Jan Hendrix installation.

Queen Anne’s Lace

October 18, 2017/in Art & Sculpture Private Art Kansas City Dierk Van Keppel, L. William Zahner Blue, Brown, Green, Indigo, Light blue, Orange, Red, Rose S 2010 /by cmorris

Queen Anne’s Lace artwork for Private Residence

Queen Anne’s Lace is an artwork made in collaboration with Dierk van Keppel for a private residence, manufactured using Zahner CNC-cut 1/2″ plate aluminum. The artwork draws inspiration from an image of the Queen Anne’s Lace flower found in the collector’s garden.

Zahner worked with Dierk Van Keppel whose studio at Rock Cottage Glass created the glass inlay for the artwork. The metal component of the piece was made in aluminum at the Zahner facility in Kansas City. The aluminum surface is processed with a GB-60 finish, providing a muted reflectivity.

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Queen Anne’s Lace

Detail of the Queen Anne's Lace artwork, showing how light can pass through the glass inlays.

Académie Lafayette

October 17, 2017/in Landscape Architecture Education, Playground Kansas City KEM Studio S 2013 /by cmorris

“

We couldn’t have asked for a better collaboration or end result. Zahner took something complex and made it easy.

Jonathon KemnitizerIDSA.

Académie Lafayette Playground

Académie Lafayette Playground is a KEM Studio-designed playspace for students which features a slide manufactured and donated by Zahner. Académie Lafayette is a French immersion public school operating on multiple campuses in Kansas City serving grades K-8.

To maximize the school’s budget, the forms of the playground were designed to be easily built by volunteers and found/recycled objects + donations were utilized (phase one). Through fundraising and a successful crowdfunding campaign the slide/tunnel/climbing wall was completed as a second phase in Fall 2013.

Académie Lafayette students enjoy the new slide in Kansas City.

Installers add plywood ribs to the Zahner-manufactured structure.

Children at Académie Lafayette play underneath the slide made by Zahner.

Designer's rendering of the new playground at Academie Lafayette.

Holmes Murphy Office

August 14, 2017/in Interior Architecture Corporate Kansas City BRR Architecture 2017 /by Winifred Wright

Kansas City, MO

Free-standing screen in Angel Hair Stainless Steel with a painted aluminum backing for office lobby.

Detail of free-standing screen in Angel Hair Stainless Steel with a painted aluminum backing.

Detail of free-standing screen structure.

Detail of free-standing screen in Angel Hair Stainless Steel with a painted aluminum backing.

Angel Gate

June 10, 2017/in Art & Sculpture, Interior Architecture Private Art, Worship Center Kansas City L. William Zahner Brown, Gold S 2003 /by cmorris

Angel Gate at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Angel Gate is a bronze and aluminum art feature which was manufactured at the Zahner facility in Kansas City. Commissioned by The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the bespoke metal artwork provides a functional gate entry into an inner worship space.

The artwork is made up of stacked plates of aluminum and bronze. To increase the contrast between the two metal components, Zahner created a stepped layout between each metal plate. This provided a bolder feel for the light gateway. The use of bronze accentuates the gold-gilded capitals of the two Corinthian columns in the doorway, visually integrating the gate with the church’s original late 19th century design and context.

Related Project

Queen Anne’s Lace

Ornate gate design by Zahner for The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

The interior metal gate open in the church's interior.

The gate closed at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

Detail of the Angel Gate at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

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.

Starlight Donor’s Circle

January 11, 2017/in Art & Sculpture Performance Center, Public Art Kansas City Gastinger Walker Harden Dierk Van Keppel Gold, Silver S 2007 /by cmorris

Donor’s Circle at Starlight Theatre

In 2007, the Starlight Theatre added a Donor’s Circle designed with local glass artist Dierk Van Keppel. The Donor’s Circle for the Starlight Theater features stainless steel, glass and lighting elements in both the ceiling and floor of the outdoor patio.

Zahner engineers and artisans worked with Gastinger Walker Harden, with Bob Rohlf and the Starlight Theatre Association of Kansas City to engineer, fabricate, and install the artwork. The surface features glass cast by local Kansas City artist Dierk Van Keppel.

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Starlight Theater

In the late 1990s, they theatre company recognized a need to fortify For the Theatre's centennial, a new building was completed to improve that quality of productions which could be performed at Starlight. In 2000, Zahner was responsible for manufacturing the new roof system for the amphitheater. Named the Jeannette and Jerome Cohen Community Stage, the new stage also included a roof for Starlight theatre, and increased its technical capability, making it one of the largest roadhouses in the country.

Zahner manufactured the stainless steel memorial ceiling pieces as well as the inset floor and framework for the glass floor system. The stainless steel and floor medallions are etched with the inscription of “Anita B. Gordon Honorary Court”.

Detail of the metal ceiling system made for the Starlight Theatre Donor's Circle

Starlight Theatre Donor's Circle, featuring inset glass with floor and ceiling metalwork.

The metal base for the inset glass at Zahner HQ in Kansas City

Memorial ceiling before peeling the protective film from the stainless steel

Irving Courtyard

January 5, 2017/in Exterior Architecture, Landscape Architecture Education, Passive Security Kansas City Gastinger Walker Harden Brown, Orange L 2006 /by cmorris

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.

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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.

Catalyst Sculpture

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Kinetic Art, Public Art, Sculpture Kansas City Matthew Dehaemers M 2008 /by cmorris

Catalyst: Kinetic Public Art in Kansas City

Catalyst is a kinetic sculpture in Kansas City by artist Matthew Dehaemers, engineered and produced using Zahner art fabrication services. Located at the intersection of of 31st Street and Troost Avenue, this public artwork was completed in 2010 for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.

Zahner engineers and artisans worked closely with Dehaemers to engineer, fabricate, and install the artwork. As a kinetic sculpture, the design included moving parts which were modeled digitally by Zahner engineers and the in-house design team. Zahner crafted the sculpture from galvanized steel, laser-etched stainless steel, and aluminum.

The sculpture’s form is inspired by the root of the Dutch word “Troost,” which means to “provide comfort, solace.” Its location on Troost Avenue is further informed by the diverse cultural perspectives of the area. Catalyst represents the past, present, and future of the street corner, which once served as the hub of Kansas City life in the early 20th century. Catalyst was Matt Dehaemers’ second collaboration with Zahner. His first collaboration was completed in 2008 and entitled Seven Sentinels.

Catalyst sculpture in aluminum, galvanized, stainless steel; custom engineering and fabrication for kinetic sculpture.

Catalyst sculpture looping video of its kinetic motion.

Metal fabricated landscape design for the Catalyst sculpture in Kansas City.

“My hope is for “Catalyst” to mean different things to different people as local citizens become stewards of Catalyst and the Troost corridor it represents … The form of sculpture for some may represent the form of a tree, or the abstraction of a spark of light or even yet the dawn of a new day as a sun unfolds its rays of light.” – Matthew Dehaemers

The 30-foot-tall structure stands above the MAX bus stop acting as an artful signal for the arrival and departure of the MAX transits. From far you can see that a bus has just left, or is currently arriving.

Kansas City hybrid buses traveling southbound will trigger Catalyst to unfold its wing-like arm structures. Approximately a minute or two later the arms fold back up awaiting to repeat the gesture minutes later for the next bus. LED lights have been installed and cast brilliant ever changing light across the surface of the structure during the night time, hitting the entire spectrum of color.

Seven Sentinels

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Kinetic Art, Public Art, Sculpture Kansas City Matthew Dehaemers L, M 2008 /by cmorris

Seven Sentinels artwork in Kansas City

Seven Sentinels is a kinetic artwork and permanent public installation by Matt Dehaemers. Zahner provided engineering, art fabrication, installation for the public artwork, located in Kansas City, Missouri.

The installation consists of seven equidistant, elongated and oversized parking gates. These were manufactured several times the height of a standard parking gate. Each of the seven pieces were engineered to individually automatically open as a kinetic sculpture. As visitors exit the facility, each parking gate rises to salute drivers leaving the New Municipal Vehicle Impound Tow Lot Facility.

Looping animation of the Nerman Museum kinetic light display by artist Leo Villareal.

The moving lights at the Nerman Museum

Learn more about the artwork Microcosm at the Nerman Museum in Overland Park, Kansas.

Seven Sentinels kinetic sculpture made in galvanized steel. Each of the parking gate sculptures salute exiting drivers.

Detail of the kinetic sculpture Seven Sentinels, a public artwork by Matthew Dehaemers.

Seven Sentinels kinetic sculpture. Each of the parking gate sculptures salute exiting drivers.

Related Project

Catalyst Sculpture

The parking gates were each crafted from powder-coated aluminum and galvanized steel. The sculptures react to incoming traffic, lifting their gates as cars pass underneath. The kinetic movement is a reference to soldiers performing a sword ceremony, and as such shows respect to vehicles exiting the lot. Seven Sentinels was completed in 2008. It is the first public artwork collaboration between Dehaemers and Zahner. Dehaemers’ second collaboration with Zahner, Catalyst, was completed in 2010 and stands at the intersection of 31st Street and Troost in Kansas City.

Each gate tower is 16 feet tall and the each gate is 12 feet long. The towers are placed 30 feet apart for a total of 180 feet from end to end. The artwork is made in galvanized steel, with powder-coated aluminum gate bars, parking control mechanisms, concrete, and a surface-mounted loop detector to trigger the artwork’s kinetic movement.