VCU Institute for Contemporary Art

The Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University is a modern art gallery that provides a space and forum for dialogue and collaboration across the region and throughout the world.

VCU is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located in downtown Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 217 degree and certificate programs in the arts, sciences, and humanities.

Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the building features 26,670 visual square feet of zinc façade on all the elevations. The exterior matte translucent glass and pre-weathered zinc skin share the same greenish-grey tonality, giving the building a shifting presence, from monolithic opaque to multifarious translucent, depending on the light.

In total, Zahner supplied 1,360 Rheinzink custom patinated zinc panels and 135 coping panels. Fabrication and installation ran smoothly in collaboration with Kalkreuth Roofing and Sheet Metal and Gilbane , where we worked closely with the construction team to achieve the correct curvature in the zinc skins. This process was enabled by our ZIFS system, which allows for more complex geometric forms and uses a series of parametrically designed fins to create the shape of an exterior.