Zahner Tour

This week, KCDC toured Zahner’s offices and fabrication facilities and broke out into our Greenline segment teams. Zahner is a Kansas City local business that is globally renowned for their innovative custom metalwork. We began the tour outside, where to-scale mockup models are built for clients before a final contract is signed. Their work is displayed throughout the property, inside and outside, at various different scales, patinas, and forms.

Matthew Sutton, who founded the Industrial design department at Zahner, shared that the company is now able to produce products that can be ordered online because of the creation of this new department. He also explained what the logistics of working with metal are to create site furnishings for the Greenline. Danielle Luyet, a product designer and fabricator at Zahner, shared her interest and design ideas with us for site furnishings that could be implemented in the Greenline. We will hopefully meet with her again soon at KCDC to discuss further.

After the Zahner visit, we walked to the east segment of the Greenline on the Paseo. We experienced the lack of accessibility to the greenspace in the middle of the Paseo. Designing a safer pedestrian crosswalk with higher visibility for vehicles will be a vital consideration in the design process for the eastern segment team. The site features beautiful architectural features, such as fountains and a pergola, but it lacks supportive amenities that encourage gathering. This could also be a design opportunity for the eastern segment team. Each segment team will soon be conducting site visits and a site analysis of their specific section of the Greenline.

Written by Ella Figgins, Interior Architecture Student