Chicago--Illinois

OneEleven

OneEleven is a Chicago luxury residential tower designed by Handel Architects. The facade includes a Zahner-manufactured architectural detail made using plate aluminum. Located at 111 West Wacker Drive, the building was converted from an uncompleted hotel which had sat vacant for several years. Handel Architects were able to salvage the shell and add an additional 25 stories to create a 60-story residential building.

Zahner created the human-scale artistic details which adorn the front facade. At the front entrance, Zahner metalwork can be seen adorning the lower levels of the building’s facade as a layering of perforated metal. Zahner worked with Handel to develop a tracery pattern depicting an abstract treescape, manufactured in painted plate aluminum.

Entrance to the OneEleven residential tower in Chicago, Illinois.

Architect's rendering of the right (West) panel system

Single panel raised into the window unit for OneEleven.

Stacked panel system prior to installing in Chicago, Illinois.

OneEleven at night in Chicago, Illinois.

Detail of the OneEleven art wall in Chicago, Illinois.

Diesel Chicago

December 30, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Flagship, Storefront Chicago--Illinois Bam Studio, Knauer Incorporated Black, Blue-grey, Grey, Indigo S 2008 /by cmorris

Diesel Concept Store on Rush Street

Façade panels for the Diesel Store in Chicago were designed by BAMDesign with Michilli Construction. The designer developed a panel layout with exposed fasteners and engaged Zahner to assist in developing a distressed surface for the store front.

The result was a unique, blackened steel patina created by the Zahner team. Hand-applied to 80 panels of 12ga galvanized steel, the custom patina architecturally conveys the look of Diesel’s distressed jeans. The custom patina was also applied in smaller scope within the project interior.

Initially dark and mottled in appearance, the exterior metalwork has naturally oxidized over time, taking on a gray tone in reaction to the urban environment.

Custom patinated galvanized steel panels with visible fasteners on the exterior of the Diesel Chicago store.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Detail view of the blackened steel panels on the Diesel Chicago store's facade.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

The custom patina developed for the project featured black & brown hues on galvanized steel.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Natural oxidation results in the panels developing a gray tone.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Detail view of the custom patina.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

The custom blackened steel patination and natural oxidation reflect the distressed look of Diesel jeans.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Detail view of the blackened steel panels, showing the effects of natural oxidation and the resulting "distressed" appearance.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

120 North LaSalle

December 14, 2016/in Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture Highrise, LEED Chicago--Illinois Murphy-Jahn Architects Gold M 1992 /by cmorris

muntz metal details in Chicago, Illinois

The high-rise at 120 North LaSalle was designed by Murphy/Jahn Architects and is LEED Gold® certified. Zahner provided exterior signage with an integrated lighting sconce in muntz metal to highlight the building’s address, entryway, and mosaic mural by Roger Brown.

Additional ceiling system elements, also created in muntz, were installed within the building interior. Paul Gapp of the Chicago Tribune, profiled the project, lauding the building’s unique design solutions:

“Helmut Jahn`s newest Chicago building at 120 N. LaSalle St. is a robust example of how good architecture can spring from the solution of difficult if prosaic problems.”

Muntz Metal signage at the entrance of 120 North LaSalle

Detail of the entry Muntz Metal architectural features

View upward of the mural and Muntz Metal architectural features

65 East Goethe

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Historic, Residential Chicago--Illinois Lucien Lagrange Blue-grey, Grey M 2002 /by cmorris

65 East Goethe Street in Chicago, Illinois

65 E. Goethe Street was designed by Lucien Lagrange and features custom roof, facade, and window coverings by Zahner. Completed in 2002, the project required traditional building methods to match the architectural aesthetic.

The design reflects the architectural style of the Second French Empire, fitting for a building set in the heart of Chicago’s Gold Coast. Both roof and wall paneling systems were fabricated and installed using traditional standing seam roof practices.

The exterior cladding of the new luxury residences in Chicago by architects at Lucien Lagrange was produced by Zahner. The standing seam room wall panel design was clad with preweathered zinc, and features a wide range of historic architectural features.

Related Surface

65 East Goethe

Pritzker Pavilion

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Performance Center, Public Art, Urban Design Chicago--Illinois Frank Gehry Partners Silver L 2004 /by cmorris

Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park

Pritzker Pavilion is a one-hundred-foot proscenium located at the North end of Millennium Park in Chicago. Designed by Frank Gehry Partners and manufactured with structural forms by Zahner.

The project consists of fourteen distinct forms, which visually appear as a cohesive whole. Each of these distinct forms is made using a straight stick steel primary structure. A secondary structure manufactured by Zahner attaches to the primary and is then clad in stainless steel by Zahner.

Each of these fourteen shapes serve to form the bandshell, providing protection from the elements while creating a focal point at the stage and orchestra pit of this dynamic outdoor amphitheater. Architects at Frank Gehry Partners began working with Zahner on this project in 1999, which was completed in 2004.

In total there were 697 prefabricated assemblies shipped to the jobsite. These assemblies were clad with over 3,000 stainless steel sheets measuring 2′ x 4′ on average. The sheets used for this project are 22ga Angel Hair finish on A316 stainless steel, a high performance stainless steel alloy containing molybdenum, a metal which provides high corrosion resistance for the metal.

The structure reaches a height of one-hundred twenty feet. In several areas, the structure curves back on itself, becoming nearly horizontal. The metal surface of this project is clad in stainless steel with a custom flat seam panel for dual curvature. The near-flat surface it creates, allowing the viewer to focus on the entirety of the shape rather than being drawn to the individual lines. According to an interview with the architect, the proscenium was inspired by Gehry’s 2001 flagship store for Issey Miyake in New York City, a sculptured titanium also made with Zahner.

Related System

Custom Column Covering Systems

Custom column cover systems provide decorative and functional aspects to both interior and exterior architectural design. Column cover manufacturing has been a mainstay of A. Zahner Company's production for several decades, producing both custom and standard systems for designers all over the world.

Zahner also completed all 24 of the 6′ diameter column covers. These enclose the green area of the park and provide support for the overhead lighting and sound cage over the park. These column covers consist of heavy-gauge stainless steel plate panels rolled to shape and attached with interior fastening system. The columns range in height from 12’ to over 24’ .

Each of the column covers is clad in a 10ga stainless steel, a heavier gauge than the 22ga stainless steel cladding the proscenium.

Michigan Avenue Plaza

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Renovation Chicago--Illinois FGM Architects Red S 2008 /by cmorris

Michigan Avenue Plaza in Chicago, Illinois

The addition of a bold red canopy to the decades-old Boulevard Towers at 225 Michigan Avenue has provided the buildings with a new distinctive basing in the Chicago architectural landscape.

While the buildings’ original design was completed in the early 1980’s by Fujikawa Johnson Associates (FJA Architects), this project was conceived as a renovation in the early 2000’s designed by FGM Architects.

Zahner was brought on to design and engineer the system, as well as providing the manufacture and installation of the prefabricated components of the distinctive red awning. Fabricated in aluminum panels with a red protective enamel coating, the understructure is made possible by a lightweight ZEPPS framework of preassembled panels.

Related Project

Gates Hall at Cornell

The project's facade is designed using generative processes developed by Morphosis. Its unique appearance also serves the building's environment performance, reducing heat gain while providing natural light into the offices and classrooms.

The red aluminum canopy for Michigan Avenue Plaza in Chicago.

The new addition of new crimson canopy was imagined by FGM Architects and made possible by a design team including A. Zahner Company, H+P Engineering, and Reed Construction for the client MB Real Estate in Chicago.

Related System

Custom Canopies

Custom canopies fabricated with Zahner engineering benefit from high-quality craft and attention to detail. Zahner engineers work with designers and contractors to develop integrated systems which meet a range of desired aesthetics, from historic restorations and filigree to contemporary geometric forms.

Construction photo of the Michigan Avenue Plaza awning in Chicago.

Construction photo shows a man standing on the top of the Michigan Avenue Plaza awning in Chicago.

View of the red painted aluminum canopy from Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

Detail of the Michigan Avenue Plaza canpopy ceiling panels.

The canopy continues into the building's interior lobby, where an interior lighting system was integrated.

Detail of the recessed lighting system detailed in the aluminum canopy's interior ceiling panels.

Harold Washington Library

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Library Chicago--Illinois Hammond-- Beeby and Babka Kent Bloomer, Raymond Kaskey Green L 1991 /by cmorris

Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago, Illinois

Rising amidst the iconic buildings of Chicago, the Harold Washington Library stands 10 stories high and has been noted as one of the largest libraries in the United States. The architects responsible for the building, Hammond, Beeby and Babka are known for producing designs which employ modernism with historical allusion, often described as belonging to the postmodern movement of design.

Zahner’s involvement on the project was in regards to the architectural forms and building cornices designed by artists Kent Bloomer and Raymond Kaskey. These works form the iconic figurehead of the building, a modern take on the gargoyle iconography and the flourishes of baroque sculptures in patinated copper tones. However, the sculptures produced were actually manufactured using contemporary materials, plates of aluminum, riveted and finished with a polyester finish in the traditional verdigris tone.

The aluminum leaf forms and steel cornice railing are each powder coated with a green-toned polyester finish. Zahner provided the larger forms of these acroterion, using a foam placeholder for the smaller sculptures welded to these artworks. The animal sculptures were produced by the artist studio, and attached by Zahner.

Harold Washington Library photographed in 2015, twenty-five years after manufacturing.

Architectural forms for Harold Washington Library in the Zahner shop.

A shipment of the cornices for Harold Washington Library leaves the Zahner shop.

The aluminum cornices for the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, Illinois.

A foam placeholder stands in for the cast owl acroterion sculpture prior to installation.

A single panel of the Harold Library cornices at the painter.

Burberry Chicago

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Retail & Commerce Chicago--Illinois Burberry + Callison Barteluce, Solomon Cordwell Buenz Christopher Bailey Black L 2012 /by cmorris

The Burberry Chicago Flagship Store

The Burberry Chicago Flagship Store features a stainless steel facade system design-engineered and manufactured by Zahner. In the early 2000’s Burberry began a global transition to re-establish the Burberry name as an international brand. As part of this transition, a series of Burberry flagship projects were made, designed by Callison+Barteluce and Burberry Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey.

One of the core strategies of Burberry’s transformation has been the re-introduction of its core products through prominent flagship properties. Zahner has been involved as a facade supplier for many concept stores and flagship properties. Designers come to Zahner for the high-quality craft and innovative design-engineered details, which give these stores a sense of quality that moves a brand into museum-quality territory.

Burberry Chicago is no different. Completed in December 2012, the new building features a number of high quality connection details which give the building a unique aesthetic among Chicago architecture.

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“What I love are the contradictions of the city. It’s a very artistic city, yet it’s also a real business city. It’s an imposing city, yet one with a lot of green space and an attention to outdoor sculpture. Chicago feels like a place where there’s an admiration for something that has a long heritage, and that of course appeals to us.”

Christopher BaileyBurberry Chief Creative Officer.

Zahner was brought onto the Burberry Chicago project to develop a black stainless steel facade and lighting system which would meet the highest standards of museum-quality metalwork desired by Burberry. Burberry’s in-house designers developed the vision, led by Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey. In an interview with Michigan Ave, Bailey described how Burberry’s vision meets Chicago aesthetics: “Chicago feels like a place where there’s an admiration for something that has a long heritage, and that of course appeals to us.”

Burberry designers brought in local and national architects to develop details for the project, including Callison Bartluce Architects in New York, and Solomon Cordwell Buenz as the architect of record in Chicago. Heintges Associates served as the building envelope and curtain wall consultant.

The structure features Burberry’s signature check, rotated and fabricated as three-dimensional forms. The check motif has been a part of Burberry’s core identity since the early twentieth century. By simplifying the classic check as a solid graphic and expanding it as into three-dimensional form, the design team was able to successfully unify the brand’s core identity as an architectural icon.

Burberry Chicago flagship store on Michigan Avenue.

Detail of the mirror-black stainless corner connection.

Elevation view of the Burberry Chicago flagship store.

Building the New Chicago Flagship

The facade is a unitized system featuring a black Ti-Stainless Steel (PVD) surface to create the Burberry’s three-dimensional check. PVD stainless steel can be colorized to meet a variety of tones, and is often used for luxury items such as timepieces and luxury architectural fixtures.

The facade for Burberry Chicago is the second in a series of flagship stores to use the dark reflective material. The first was in Shanghai, produced by a local manufacturer in China. Burberry provided to Zahner a small detail from the original facade. The sample was intelligently crafted but it didn’t mesh with the Zahner manufacturing process.

Zahner’s design and engineering team approached the details from a different perspective, employing heavier gauge stainless steel, v-notched corners, and a interlocking system for efficient installation of the metal panel design. The system is also deeply set, providing a strong sculptural feel to the building’s architectural accents.