Blue | Zahner

SMU Collins

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.

Related Surface

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.

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.

Related Surface

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.

Related System

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.

Museum of Science and Industry

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Museum Tampa--Florida Antoine Predock Architect PC Blue, Silver L 1995 /by cmorris

The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Florida

Completed in 1995, this spherical theater is the key organizing element of the entire facility. Zahner was involved in the design-engineering, fabrication, and installation of several interior and exterior elements within the complex, including the lush blue reflective dome itself. Antoine Predock, the architect who designed MOSI, began working with Zahner design engineers early in the schematic phase to develop a curvilinear system that would support the project.

MOSI was the first project Zahner produced by Antoine Predock, and the first project by Zahner to include dual curvatures. This marked a turning point in the way that Zahner produces its metal surfaces. Zahner had just completed the Weisman Museum with Frank Gehry, one of the earliest projects with Gehry and Zahner. The demands on the metal surface were many, but none of compared to what the Tampa dome would require.

Aerial imagery of Tampa Museum of Science and Industry.

Detail of the MOSI dual curvature roof panel system during installation.

Manufacturing the complex facade for MOSI

The Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa introduced new hurdles for the performance of sheet metal on curvilinear buildings. The dome of the spherical shape of the dome would require the metal surface to curve in two directions at once, which is the definition of dual curvatures. Similar to a sheet of paper, metal sheets do not want curve in both directions.

To overcome this obstacle, Zahner and Predock developed a triangulated panel system which would allow smooth dual-curving of the metal surface. This project was completed a few years before Zahner would go on to influence the Zahner ZEPPS technology. This system provides both the structure and the surface. However, this project was pre-ZEPPS, and as such, the project was accomplished using a more rudimentary aluminum substructure.

Roof of the MOSI Dome in Tampa — Dual Curvatures.

Detail of the MOSI dual curvature roof panel system.

Detailed drawings of the dual-curving MOSI facade were made.

Detail of the MOSI dual-curvature dome panel system in Tampa, Florida.

The mirror-polish stainless steel used for the project was chosen by the architects to evoke the sky and waters of Tampa Bay, less than twenty miles from the museum. The reflective finish creates unexpected lush colors reflected from both the green grounds surrounding the building, as well as the range of tones seen in the skies.

The mirror surface of the museum creates opportunities for luscious sunset tones across the surface of the metal, as seen above. In this case, the triangular panelization of the metal creates visual interest by dividing up the reflected planes, much like pillowed glass or the oil-canning of metal.

Zahner’s expertise was also required for a few other aspects of the museum, including the perforated drop ceiling systems, the aluminum peepholes in the south elevation, and the museum shop which is clad in a reflective stainless steel surface.

MIT Stata Center

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Education Cambridge--Massachusetts Frank Gehry Partners Blue, Yellow XL 2004 /by cmorris

The Ray and Maria Stata Center at MIT, Building 32

Designed for the Computer, Information, and Intelligence Sciences programs at MIT, Frank Gehry and his architectural team at Gehry Partners envisioned a sprawling academic complex of visually amorphous structures which provide a combination of study and social space for students. The project is comprised of 47 unique elements, using a variety of materials, from brick to glass and architectural metals.

Zahner developed the geometry and cladding the structure with rain screen panels in stainless steel, aluminum, and titanium. As the facade provider, Zahner designed the structural forms to match the designer’s aesthetic, fabricated the forms, skins, and window units, and installed the facade onsite at the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus.

Related Project

Fisher Center

The performance center was completed in 2003, designed by Frank Gehry Partners. Zahner has been involved with Gehry's firm since the beginning, and has been involved in a number of featured Gehry projects over the years. The Bard College was finished a year after Weatherhead at Case Western, and a year prior to the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, Chicago. All three were built using Zahner engineering-design, fabrication, and installation.

Designing the Building Envelope for Stata Center

Because of the complex nature of the project, the designers used ZEPPS, Zahner’s structural system for building complex forms. Using ZEPPS allows the engineers to simplify the design into buildable components using 3D fabrication processes. Parts were then assembled either at the Zahner shop or in the field depending on their complexity and ease of shipment.

An onsite team of installers lifted and secured each ZEPPS assembly. In total there were 1,500 individual ZEPPS assemblies manufactured for the project. Each of these assemblies was lifted into place for this project and then surfaced with a metal skin in one of several specified metal surfaces. More than 10,000 individual skins were installed to the surface and roof.

One of the distinct advantages of the ZEPPS is that it allows fully functional window boxes, over six feet in height, to be pre-installed on these panels. For that reason, the system is often described as prefab for custom buildings.

Detail of the flatseam panel system for Stata Center at MIT.

Facade installers in their office at MIT.

Detail CAD comparison of the Giraffe building at MIT Stata Center.

Interior metalwork, mirror-polish stainless steel flatseam panels at MIT.

Mockup for one of the buildings at MIT Stata Center.

Construction comparison of the MIT Stata Center giraffe building.

Aerial photograph of MIT Stata Center during construction.

Sunrise glows over the Pisa building at MIT Stata Center during construction.

Vista building at MIT Stata Center during construction.

Twins building during construction revealing the ZEPPS panel understructure.

The Twins building at MIT, installation detail.

McCoy Federal Building

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Government, LEED, Passive Security Jackson--Mississippi CDFL Architects, Hargreaves Associates, Schwartz/Silver Blue, Blue-grey, Grey, White M 2013 /by cmorris

Dr. A.H. McCoy Federal Building Modernization

This upgrade to the McCoy Federal Building includes infrastructure additions to the main building and an ancillary building which serves as a security entrance to the main structure. Designed by Schwartz/Silver architects, Zahner provided the glass facade design along with its structural support system.

In 2010, the General Services Administration (GSA) commissioned Schwartz/Silver to upgrade the McCoy Federal Building Courthouse and GSA Facilities in Jackson, Mississippi. Zahner was brought on to construct the building envelope for the structure, under design assist contract. Zahner provided engineering, fabrication, and installation of the curving glass facade in addition to the various architectural metal surfaces.

McCoy Federal Building in Jackson, Mississippi.

Glass and steel extrusions, each 10 to 25 feet long, thread into ZEPPS Sections to hold 1,078 lites of glass for the design by Schwartz/Silver for the Jackson, Mississippi Federal Courthouse and GSA Building. Locked into place by over 2,000 quills of varying heights, almost every single lite of glass is unique; the lites vary in width and height as specified by Zahner engineering and programming specialists.

New building codes designed to protect sensitive buildings and airports require security check-ins to be performed in a separate building. The addition to the McCoy Federal Building will also improve various functionalities and accessibility, as well as marketability for the value of the property and those around it, a benefit of its use as an example of passive security. It also is suggested that the building will help continue to improve the community interest in the downtown neighborhoods by freshening the street-level image of the Federal courthouse and the downtown area.

The project was completed in 2013, and is LEED Registered and slated to receive LEED Silver certification from the United States Green Building Council.

Panoramic view of the GSA Building in Jackson, Mississippi.

Night view of the glass lites on edge at the McCoy Federal Building.

McCoy GSA Federal Building at dusk in Jackson, Mississippi.

South view of the McCoy Federal Courthouse GSA in Jackson, Mississippi.

ZEPPS understructure visible as Zahner field operators prepare to install the lites of glass.

Zahner Field Operators install clips on the ZEPPS structure.

Detail of the McCoy Federal Building at the Zahner Headquarters.

Mockup for Schwartz/Silver architects at the Zahner Headquarters.

Zahner CAD rendering of the McCoy Federal Building.

IwamotoScott

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Parking Structure Miami--Florida Iwamoto Scott, TimHaahs Blue, Blue-grey, Light blue L 2015 /by cmorris

City View Garage, Miami Design District

A geometric display of varying blue-toned aluminum skins adorns the Southeastern facade of the City View Garage in the Miami Design District. Designed by IwamotoScott Architecture, the Zahner-manufactured facade was developed in Kansas City and shipped as nesting parts to the job site in Miami, Florida. Zahner field installers hung the panels.

Sited along the Southern edge of the Miami Design District adjacent to I-195, the parking structure is part of a larger plan to bring arts, luxury, and culture into the new district. The main body of the building is a parking structure above a level of retail storefront and includes a small six story office block.

The building’s design averted the need for industrial ventilation of the parking area. IwamotoScott met this challenge with a modular decorative metal screen, whose mechanically-folded aluminum system features variously sized apertures to provide the required porosity for natural ventilation.

City View Garage with IwamotoScott facade.

IwamotoScott was commissioned alongside New York-based architects Leong Leong and Southern California-based artist John Baldessari, by Dacra and L Real Estate to create three unique facades for the City View Garage in Miami’s Design District. The IwamotoScott portion of the facade wraps around the parking structure’s Southeast corner and includes an elevator lobby, exterior stair, and the office block.

featuring Baldessari's artwork between the Leong Leong Facade and the IwamotoScott facade.

Photo of IwamotoScott Facade for the Miami Design District City View Garage

Detail of the IwamotoScott Facade for the Miami Design District City View Garage.

Photo © A. Zahner Co.

Interior detail view of the IwamotoScott Facade for the Miami Design District City View Garage

Interior and roof view of the IwamotoScott Facade for the Miami Design District City View Garage.

Photo © A. Zahner Company.

Photograph of the IwamotoScott Facade during construction, Miami Design District City View Garage.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Developing the IwamotoScott facade for City View Garage

There are five different repeating modules, which are custom-fabricated by Zahner using 40 panel types. Zahner developed the modular design using powercopies to programmatically control the design’s various parts in both the operational engineering, plant, and hanging in the field.

The aluminum parts were painted using a gradient coloring scheme, which provides a subtle gradation of its five unique aperture sizes, suspended from fins which cantilever from the edges of the garage’s concrete slabs.

Digital model of the IwamotoScott facade, color-coded to indicate its five repeating panel types.

IMAGE © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Diagrams for the IwamotoScott Facade for the Miami Design District City View Garage.

IMAGE © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Diagram of the 40 panel types used to create the IwamotoScott Facade at Miami Design District.

Images © A. Zahner Company.

Nested parts for the IwamotoScott facade in the Zahner Kansas City facility.

Photo © A. Zahner Company.

Example photo of the crated IwamotoScott facade parts used on the City View Garage

Zahner fabricator crates the aluminum parts for the IwamotoScott Facade.

Photo © A. Zahner Company.

Detail of the IwamotoScott Facade for the Miami Design District City View Garage.

Photo of the IwamotoScott Facade for the Miami Design District City View Garage

Eastern view of the IwamotoScott Facade for the Miami Design District City View Garage.

Photo © A. Zahner Company.

Upward view of the IwamotoScott Facade for the Miami Design District City View Garage.

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.

Related Surface

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.

H&R Block Installation

August 15, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Sculpture Kansas City Dierk Van Keppel Blue M, S 2006 /by cmorris

‘Blue Sun’ Hanging Mobile for H&R Block Headquarters

In 2006, H&R Block commissioned artist Dierk van Keppel to produce a custom glasswork in the new headquarters for their downtown office in Kansas City. Blue Sun is a blown and fused glass mobile, hung in an aluminum armature.

Zahner worked in both an art fabricator capacity, as well as a collaborator to Dierk Van Keppel. Keppel used glass blowing and fusing to create a number of fused glass pieces in flat form.

Zahner cut the glass and produced the frames and stainless steel armatures for the artwork. Zahner also provided engineering-design to create the sculpture’s balance and leveling mechanisms that keep the mobile stable.

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

Related Project

Starlight Donor’s Circle

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.

Dierk Van Keppel installation at the H&R Block in Kansas City.

Dierk studied art glass at the University of Kansas from 1983 to 1987, assisting with lectures and demonstrations for artists including Dale Chihuly, Stephen D. Edwards, Ken Carder, Fritz Driesbach, and Wes Hunting.

In 1984, Dierk studied under Richard Marquis and Thermon Statom at Pilchuck Glass Studio in Stanwood, WA, joining the staff at Pilchuck in 1985. In 1986, Dierk founded his first private glass studio, Free State Glass, in Lawrence, KS. In 1991, the artist moved closer to his hometown near Kansas City, and established Rock Cottage Glassworks in Merriam, Kansas.

Dierk Van Keppel sculptural installation at the H&R Block Space in Kansas City.

Hands of Man

August 15, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Public Art, Sculpture Kansas City L. William Zahner Blue, Green S 2006 /by cmorris

Hands of Man, Public Artwork

Hands of Man is an artwork by L. William Zahner, made as a gift to The Salvation Army in Kansas City. The artwork was produced by tracing the hands of Salvation Army employees. These hands drawings were scanned and cut in copper, using Zahner’s art fabrication facility.

After using machinery to cut-out the several hundred copper hands, these parts were hammered into the individual shapes to give them form and texture. The hands were then welded and sculpted to form a large-scale sculpture of a hand.

Zahner then used patination techniques to give the surface a mottled Star Blue patina on the surface of the metal before having the sculpture delivered to the Salvation Army Headquarters, based only a few blocks from the Zahner Campus.

The Hands of Man sculpture is a good example of how an artist can use Zahner public art fabrication service to build sculpture. Art services provided by Zahner will help assist artists to engineer, fabricate, deliver, and install public art.