KC Live! in Kansas City, Missouri is the Midwest’s premier entertainment destination. It encompasses an entire city block with two levels of taverns, nightspots and world-class restaurants, and includes a concert stage where internationally-known artists play to the masses during the warm summer months.
Designing, engineering and constructing such a large structure presented a challenge, especially when faced with strict budget regulations. Structurflex delivered.
The KC Live! ETFE Canopy was a huge milestone for Structurflex, because it was the first single-layer ETFE canopy in North America. We designed, developed and detailed the entire system so it could provide low-level shading and protection from the elements to the people under it. The real star of the entertainment district is the LED light system that plays of the silver frit applied under the membrane. The frit screens out ultraviolet rays and reduces solar gain.
A traditional metal roof is much heavier than ETFE, and thus, requires much more steel for structural support. Our structure required 35 percent less steel than traditional building materials, and when compared to glass, cost 50 percent less.
The five-story, 60’s era West Hills Medical Office Building in Los Angeles was due for an exterior facelift. A complete exterior renovation by Michael W. Folonis Architects revealed that water infiltration had caused structural damage to the existing horizontal plaster awnings; removing them was a costly process that consumed much of the project budget. This […]
We are pleased to have collaborated with KieranTimberlake and the outfit of a parking structure on the Rice University Campus. In their blog post, they describe the concepts they employed to create an iconic sculptural element. For more details see the KieranTimberlake blog post.
