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The Transformative Power of Zinc

Zinc Wall PanelsWith the help of zinc wall panels, you’d never guess that this retail building, located in Hyde Park on the south side of Chicago, was formerly a Borders bookstore. The black and patina-blue VMZinc flat lock panels are not only versatile and extremely durable, but they add visual interest, even an edginess, to the building design, say Jim Tuschall of Tuschall Engineering Company Inc., Burr Ridge, IL, and architect Wil Bruchmann of Antunovich Associates, Chicago.

Zinc Wall Panelling

The project serves as an anchor to a revitalized retail street corridor near the University of Chicago campus. Slated to open in June, the building houses a women’s clothing store and yoga studio in the front portion colored blue, and a high-end restaurant and music venue in the black- colored back.

“I was drawn to the patinaed zinc because itsWall Detail Close-Up WEB color changes slightly with the time of day, weather, and seasons. Every time you look at the building, it has a whole different color that can range from gray to aqua blue to anywhere in between,” says Bruchmann. “The panels are uniform height but random lengths. Adding detail to the wall also created a dynamic transition between the two colors, which mimic the differing uses within the building.”

Bruchmann also notes the long life of zinc. “It ages well over time and is very resilient,” he says. “There’s no question in mind that this was the best product for this particular project. There’s no other material out there that could create this sort of look and feel.”

Pre-Zinc Metal Panels On Chicago Building
Before
Metal Chicago Building Adds Zinc
After

The New Ivy Covered Walls

by Ted S. Miller, Miller Clapperton

When you hear the term “ivy covered walls” your mind almost automatically shifts to a university campus, with masonry buildings in collegiate gothic style with ivy expanding up the walls surrounding a grassed quadrangle.  Can’t you smell a grill cooking meat for the tailgating party before the football game?

I have visited two (2) university campuses this week and I can report to you that much of the new construction on these campuses has a new feature element and it is not ivy on masonry anymore.  What I have seen is attractive uses of metal, sometimes the entire wall in metal but most commonly metal walls are being used as the featured element of the building.

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