At the recent AECtech 2025 Conference, part of a unique, week-long conference that brings together designers, engineers, technologists, and builders from around the world to advance innovation across the built environment, Zahner Lead Research and Development Engineer, Burcin Nalinci, presented “Innovation in Four Dimensions: From Tacit Craft to Computational Knowledge.”
SoFi Stadium in Englewood, Calif. is an architecture, engineering, and construction marvel. Designed by HKS Architects and built by Turner Construction and AECOM Hunt, the 70,000-seat stadium also has a 6,000-seat venue and a 2.5-acre plaza, covered by a canopy of translucent ETFE membrane and 34,789 anodized aluminum panels—all unique in perforation and shape—and all fabricated by Zahner.
Over the past year the Zahner Lab’s team has been focused on a recurring challenge in the AEC industry: translating complex digital geometries into physical structures. The challenge of delivering for these kinds of structures often lead to innovation in our workflows within engineering processes, shop fabrication, and field installation.
Complex projects—those with intricate geometries, specialty materials, and aggressive timelines—leave little room for errors or design missteps. Hitting the mark the first time, or as early as possible in the design process, is the key to overall productivity, profitability and success. Navigating the design space of a project is a non-trivial task (Figure 1) – without fabricator input architects cannot calibrate design decisions for cost and quality.
Zahner projects are composed of a small number of base metals: Steel, Aluminum, Zinc, and Copper. From there the list grows with a select set of alloys like Stainless Steel (304, 316), Weathering Steel (A606, A588), Anodized Quality Aluminum, Brass, Silicon Bronze, etc. Once you add the varying finishes, coatings, and surface treatments, thousands of options become available for use on architectural projects.