Black ZALMAG® Adds Texture and Richness to this Innovative Office Space
Driving down Grand Avenue in Des Moines, Iowa you get a strong sense of the rich history and culture the city has to offer. As you approach the river, you notice a brand-new building cladded in bold, Black ZALMAG® metal wall panels with exposed timber wood.
The material used on the exterior gives this building a modern yet natural design aesthetic. The Black ZALMAG® material presents as a charcoal shade in the daylight but shifts to dark black when the sun is set, changing its appearance throughout the day.
“We loved the textural richness and veining of the ZALMAG® finish, and how it complements the warmth of the mass timber structure of the overall building” stated Khalid Khan, Assoc. AIA, Principal at Neumann Monson Architects. “Since the completion of 111 E. Grand, we have had several developers and architects voicing interest in the Millennium panels used on our building’s façade. Like with most things that are relatively new, affordable and well executed, we can easily see this product gaining traction regionally and beyond.”
Black ZALMAG® Flush Reveal panels cover the East, North and West elevations, and features a carbon steel base with a unique coating of Zinc, Aluminum and Magnesium. The magnesium renders the material impenetrable; the aluminum increases the metal’s corrosion resistance; and the zinc does the magic of healing the material’s cut edges. The mixture also contains silicon, which hardens the surface and prevents surface abrasions. ZALMAG® is increasingly used in architectural applications due to the patina aging process. This unique process produces variability from one panel to the next and is ever-changing, increasing its corrosive strength with time.
In addition to the metal wall panels, Neumann Monson Architects chose to use Dowell Laminated Timber (DLT) on both the interior and exterior of the building. DLT does not use any nails or glue (composed of soft and hard wood) and is completely reusable at the end of the building’s life. This is the first multi-story DLT project in North America and the largest DLT project in the country. This type of Mass Timber construction is more common in Europe but is only the second project of its kind in the United States.
“We couldn’t be more proud to work with the talented design team at Neuman Monson Architects,” “Stainless” Steve Holeczy, Millennium Forms sales manager said. “We are proud to be a part of this groundbreaking project and the opportunity to make a statement in the Midwest design community.”