One of the key exterior elements of the new Burchfield-Penney Art Center, the zinc panels, is now being added. Once the panels have been added, the facade of the center will add a fresh look to the Elmwood side of the building. Up until now the facade of the center has been a work in progress. I talked to Ted Pietrzak, Executive Director, who told me that the he walks through to the center on a weekly basis and the nine spaces (which must all be filled with art) are becoming more spectacular with each and every day. From Ted:
“The zinc is an amazing product. It was selected for aesthetic and green reasons... we wanted to bring another material into the vocabulary of the building... almost like a sculpture or a painting. The zinc itself is expensive, but it will last forever. It will eventually get deeper in color with a slight ‘blue-ing’ and darkening. It's a natural metal, which is the reason that it is green… it’s a natural element. The zinc will help us to obtain our LEED certification* (the building will need to be reviewed)... we're going for Silver (a category of LEED design). If you look at the building, the zinc is laid out in 2'x10' panels. The stepped panels appear to be in motion on the curved wall (east side on Elmwood). There will be non-curved zinc panels on the west side of the building, and fish scaling zinc panels up on the terrace section. We chose zinc for the material, the color and the texture."
*Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System