Silver | Zahner

Rogers Place Arena

Rogers Place Arena; Edmonton, Alberta

Located in the heart of downtown Edmonton, Alberta, the Rogers Place arena is Canada’s first certified LEED Silver National Hockey League arena. Designed by sports architecture experts, HOK, the facility is home of the Edmonton Oilers and the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Zahner supplied 212,000 square feet of custom Angel Hair® stainless steel panels. Zahner also fabricated and supplied 380+ ZEPPS panels to form the geometric controlled edges of the curvilinear structure.

Facade for 178 North Eleventh with antique copper patina in Brooklyn, New York.

Sun Pavilion

September 22, 2017/in Art & Sculpture Public Art El Paso--Texas RDG Red, Silver S 2017 /by cmorris

Sun Pavilion, Artwork in El Paso, Texas

David Dahlquist and Matt Niebuhr with RDG Dahlquist Art Studio designed Sun Pavilion, a public artwork commissioned by the Museum of Cultural Affairs for the City of El Paso, Texas. Zahner provided engineering and custom art fabrication for the artist’s design.

Zahner fabricated the cut aluminum plates in shapes inspired by paper cutting craft traditions of the area. The face of each metal plate is painted silver while red paint covers the verso. Lit within, the structure resembles a paper lantern in the evening, inviting continued use of the space.

Detail of Sun Pavilion roof during installation.

Framing a place to gather, the Sun Pavilion provides sheltered space for park goers to share the stories of the day with each other. This public art project reinforces the role of regional parks as civic anchors and places of community gathering and cohesion and with imagination, the patterned shadows and colors echo faces of the past and put us together in the present with each other creating a special place, a distinctive place, for Blackie Chesher Park and the community.

Dolby Labs HQ

January 27, 2017/in Exterior Architecture Corporate, Flagship San Francisco Bay WRNS Studio Silver M 2018 /by cmorris

WRNS Studio designed the screening room and lobby at the Dolby Labs Headquarters in San Francisco. The 14,000 sq. ft. screening room was built to highlight the latest in sound-based cinematic technology. The exterior design of the building hints at what movie-goers will experience once inside.

Zahner engineered and fabricated louvered perforated panels in stainless steel with a GB-60™ bead blasted finish. Panels at street level continue the overall aesthetic with a dimpled surface and an Angel Hair® finish.

Sunlight activates the louvered perforated facade on the Dolby Labs Headquarters in San Francisco, California.

Design Assist helps achieve design intent

Through the Design Assist process, WRNS and Zahner collaborated to develop a stainless steel facade with custom reticulated louvers. Each louver was laser cut and bent at specific angles, achievable through the Zahner patented process known as Louvered ZIRA™.

The perforated apertures vary in size, flowing from large to small, top to bottom, creating a gradient effect. The end result is a facade that bends and directs light to converge in a single point. The intent is to mimic the Dolby precision sound-as-object technology, which allows sounds to emanate from anywhere in the theatre.

In this way, the Dolby brand experience begins before patrons enter the building. The louvered panels flow from the exterior façade into the upper half of the interior lobby, harmoniously connecting the two spaces.

Interior lobby under construction. Exterior facade design flows into the lobby.

About Louvered ZIRA

Louvered ZIRA system uses a United States registered patent owned by Zahner. The system works by three-dimensionalizing perforations using tabbed or folded perforation. Any laser-cut or milled shape can be formed into a micro louver on the surface of the metal. The machine cuts partial perforations with folded tabs, and opens the tab by folding the tab back.

Custom dimpled panels extend the aesthetic established by the louvered perforated panels.

Additional panels complete the street level facade with a dimpled surface that echoes the overall design. Integrated lighting adds another layer of intrigue to the building’s aesthetic after dark.

Louvered perforated panels catch and direct sunlight.

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.

Related Project

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

Washington Elementary

January 4, 2017/in Exterior Architecture Education, Passive Security Sacramento--California HMC Architects Brown, Silver M, S 2016 /by cmorris

Washington Elementary School in Sacramento

Washington Elementary School in Sacramento features a number of unique metal elements manufactured by Zahner using ImageWall for custom perforated metal. Working for Landmark Construction with the designers at HMC Architects, Zahner provided the screens with custom perforated imagery on stainless steel and pre-weathered steel. These screen elements were used to provide passive security and signage while expressing the school’s creativity, science, and technology — marking a new shift towards practicing the STEAM curriculum (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics).

To establish this new shift in education, Sacramento City Unified School District partnered with city leaders and Principal Dr. Gema Godina-Martinez to envision the transformative shift and redesign of Washington Elementary School. The school pursued a STEAM academic program, becoming a magnet for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math education.

HMC Architects was challenged to redesign classrooms and collaborative learning areas not only to support student-centered learning, but to also influence the culture of the school’s educational experience. The project had a tight schedule. This transformation needed to be completed in less than a year to meet the Fall 2016 grand re-opening.

North entrance with perforated images of

North entrance for Washington Elementary School in Sacramento.

When HMC Architects developed the gate design for Washington Elementary, one of the considerations dictating the design decisions was how to provide security for the elementary school students. The project team employed passive security design measures by developing an open-air security gate which would ensure student’s safety while also promoting a playful STEAM atmosphere.

The architects came up with a creative security solution: the picture perforation pattern is more open at children’s height, while densely perforated at adult heights of 4′ to 6′ — ensuring that young students have greater visibility while adults will have greater difficulty seeing into the open air school commons.

Passive Security in Architecture

If you're designing a building for security, it's important to think about how your design's defenses can be met sustainably — and to also consider how these measures can be achieved without antagonizing its inhabitants.

North screenwall at Washington Elementary.

North screenwall with the Washington Elementary in Sacramento.

DETAIL OF THE LOGO SCREENWALL FOR THE WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY IN SACRAMENTO.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

The contractor attached Zahner perforated panels to a galvanized steel structure.

South screenwall at Washington Elementary.

Detail of perforated stainless with Angel Hair finish at Washington Elementary.

Detail of the North entrance gate for Washington Elementary.

North entrance with gear motif on the school's entrance.

NORTH SCREENWALL WITH LOGO FOR THE WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY IN SACRAMENTO.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Detail of perforated stainless steel at Washington Elementary.

Original signage for the Washington School House.

Perforated stainless steel doors at Washington Elementary.

Detail of the perforated stainless steel door.

Harim Tower

January 4, 2017/in Exterior Architecture Corporate, Highrise Asia, International, Seoul--South Korea Beck Group Silver XL 2016 /by cmorris

Harim Group Headquarters in Seoul, Korea

Harim Tower in Gangnam, Seoul is the Beck Group-designed headquarters for the Harim Group company. The building features a Zahner engineered cladding system and custom bumped and perforated stainless steel throughout the interior and exterior.

The Harim Group wanted its new corporate headquarters to reflect its focus on sustainability and caring for its employees and the public. Beck provided a unique design solution which introduced 86,000 SF of mid-rise office tower on a small but high-value site. The project includes a boardroom for Harim Group, high-end restaurants, and a café in addition to a range of office spaces.

To reduce Korea’s high energy cost and to enhance the indoor air quality, Beck designed an operable window system for natural ventilation, high performance Low-E coated windows, LED light fixtures, building automation system, green roof, rainwater harvesting system and underfloor air distribution system.

Harim Group Headquarters entrance has a curving stainless steel facade system made by Zahner.

Curved metal facade of Harim Group Headquarters in Seoul.

Curved metal 'S' shape facade of the Harim facade in stainless steel.

Making the Curved Metal Facade for Harim Group Headquarters

Working under Mijie Industrial Company, Zahner developed a custom ZEPPS feature to produce an ‘S’ shaped recess in the building’s facade. ZEPPS is the Zahner system for developing unique forms and curvatures in metal. The ‘S’ shape for Harim Tower provides a unique aesthetic and design signature for the corporate headquarters. This recessed shape also creates a low pressure zone, facilitating natural ventilation on each of the floors.

The metal system Zahner provided was developed with a deep recess cavity for the lighting system. Zahner engineers introduced a modified ZEPPS hardware component which extended the panels 14″ from the building’ surface while retaining the precision curves.

Working with Well-Light, a Korean lighting design consultant, the team installed more than 10,000 LED lights of 4,000k color temperature which show through the building’s millions of perforations. “We tested several different color temperatures,” says Jay Chung, Director of Korea Operations at Beck Group. ”When we tried 3,000k color temperature lights it looked like the building was on fire. The 4,000k lights ended up giving us the perfect light. Plus they’re energy efficient.”

Detail of the curved stainless steel facade with custom perforated emboss panels.

Detail of the custom perforated emboss used to bump and perf the stainless steel facade.

Doha Student Housing

January 4, 2017/in Exterior Architecture Education, LEED Asia, Doha--Qatar, International, Middle East Burns & McDonnell Blue-grey, Silver L 2012 /by cmorris

Qatar Foundation Education City Student Housing Complex

The student housing complex for the Qatar Foundation’s Education City initiative is a large scale project consisting of two campuses. The complex is designed by Burns & McDonnell who brought in Zahner to provide various metalwork in titanium and stainless steel.

The design for the complex incorporates local culture with modern technology to create a unique, world-class facility for the students of Education City. A traditional Islamic village, consisting of five neighborhoods joined together by a village street leading to a central plaza, inspired the architectural design.

Zahner’s scope was fabrication and furnish-only, providing the spiral centerpiece for the campus. Local contractor teams installed the panels. The building complex is energy independent, generating its own power. This is the first student housing complex in the world to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

Related Project

Sidra Medical Center

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.

Qatar Foundation Education City Student Housing Complex

New England Aquarium

December 30, 2016/in Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture Museum, Renovation Boston--Massachusetts Schwartz/Silver Silver L 1996 /by cmorris

New England Aquarium in Boston

Founded in 1967, the New England Aquarium in Boston set a precedent for many future aquariums. Its urban waterfront setting served as a tourist destination, while providing an educational resource to its community and region. The original building was designed by Cambridge Seven, providing site planning, architecture, exhibit design, and all interior design for the original New England Aquarium building.

In 1996, Zahner worked for Schwartz/Silver Architects to provide the building’s new western wing. The glass and steel addition includes the harbor seal exhibit on the public plaza, ticketing booth, changing exhibit galleries, gift shop, cafe, and lobby. Zahner provided custom stainless steel “fishscale” metal panels using custom wheel finish.

The new facility is a distinct addition to the old concrete building, celebrating its harbor-side location with stainless steel and glass additions. The shiny surfaces reference both the scales of sea creatures as well as moving water and its reflectivity.

Echo Dynamics

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Passive Security, Sculpture Little Rock--Arkansas Mikyoung Kim Silver L 2007 /by cmorris

ECHO DYNAMICs Public Art at Little Rock Courthouse

Echo Dynamics is a public artwork and water feature designed by Mikyoung Kim and manufactured with Zahner fabrication. The artwork is in front of the Federal Courthouse for the Eastern District of Arkansas and the United States District Court.

Mikyoung Kim Design introduced a concept which would provide a unique aesthetic to the building’s entrance, while also solving a security concern for the building. The artwork is both a fountain and a planter which protects the building using passive security from the street face of the park. Zahner worked with Mikyoung Kim to develop the concept as a stainless steel fountain, providing coordination with structural engineer, fountain consultant and mechanical contractor.

The green space provides a refuge from the urban downtown and the sculpture offers an invitation to pedestrians to utilize this place. Made using 14ga and 16ga stainless steel, the horizontal fountain allows water to flow through a series of descending troughs. Zahner supplied the welded coupling connection to mechanical plumbing as specified by Dan Euser Water Architecture.

Related Project

Arkansas House

The residential project's interior wood and metal surfaces act as an interior liner to the building's rough-to-the-touch Solanum Steel exterior architectural monitors. Flooring of rift-sawn cherry and walnut also act to form an interior liner. Taut and highly crafted, this refined surface acts as an interior liner to the exterior monitors clad in weathering steel shingles.

Maggie’s Centre

December 30, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Healthcare, Hospitality Dundee--United Kingdom, Europe, International Frank Gehry Partners Silver M 2003 /by cmorris

Maggie’s Centre in Dundee, Scotland

Architect Frank Gehry’s first building completed in the United Kingdom, Maggie’s Dundee is a unique building featuring Zahner metalwork. The facility serves cancer patients in Scotland, and provides a caring environment for the patients and families during recovery.

Maggie’s Dundee is among the first of the centers designed and built for Maggie Keswick Jencks, who died of breast cancer in 1995. Jencks dreamed of a place where cancer patients could be treated as human beings, a center built around a kitchen, with books and caring staff. She never lived to see this dream realized. After her passing, her husband, architectural critic Peter Jencks, played a key role in commissioning and advocating the first center in

The Centre in Dundee, Scotland is the third such center. Designed by Frank Gehry Partners, the architect donated his services and the project was completed in 2003. Today there are over a dozen Maggie’s Centres all over the United Kingdom, designed by architects from Zaha Hadid to Daniel Libeskind.

This project involves a labyrinth in the structures front yard, and an elaborately curved stainless steel roof. Zahner donated labor and fabricated the stainless steel roof at cost, which was then shipped to Scotland and installed by local labor. The project was completed in the same year as Bard College, also produced by Frank Gehry Partners with Zahner.