Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas

Sheet Metal Contractor

A. Zahner Company
Irving, Texas

When the City of Irving lost its bid to build a new, modern stadium for the Dallas Cowboys, the Irving Convention Center was introduced as a re-imagined 100,000-square-feet (9,290 m2 ) entertainment palace covered in 150-tons (136 tonnes) of milled, perforated copper panels.  The project is LEED certified for its integration of sustainable principles and generative design. Copper was chosen for the building’s façade because it is a natural, light-weight and low-maintenance material. The façade was installed as mill-finish copper, which means that the raw "red" copper surface will go through a long process of patination. Within weeks of installation, the project had already begun to darken in areas, and within a year, the whole building had a deep, bluish-brown patina. This natural process is a result of the temperature, moisture, and pollution in the air, which causes the material to at first darken, and eventually change to greens and blues many years from now. The design is also unique in that at first glance, the material seems impossible. From a medium distance, the metal surface seems to float in space, because the circular shapes are pieced together via slight "bridges" or connecting sections of copper. The effect is that from a near distance, the copper circular sections of the perforation appear to float, offering transparency and illusion.

Architectural Category: Exotic or Unusual Applications