Gimme a P!

Professional- and collegiate-sports officials and marketers have long used sophisticated methods to develop their squads’ “brand.” High schools, however, have generally remained rather quaint in their approach (given the budgetary state of many school districts, that’s understandable). For example, my high-school alma mater has simply repainted the same logos atop the scoreboard and throughout its football stadium for decades.

Kansas City’s Piper Unified School District bucks this trend with environmental graphics that make a statement for its namesake high school. As part of a $12.5 million renovation for the high school, Piper officials and their general contractor, J.E. Dunn Construction (Kansas City) hired DLR Group (Overland Park, KS) to serve as the project’s architect. According to Ken Graham, a DLR Group senior associate, the group developed an idea for a façade at the school’s main entrance.

‘We outlined several goals for the program,” he said. “In addition to create an iconic main entrance, we also wanted to incorporate a sustainable material that complements the building exterior and provides natural light by day and a luminous beacon by night during events. And, of course, we wanted to reinforce school branding with a billboard-scale element and elevate the visitor experience.”

Graham approached GKD-USA Inc.’s (Chesapeake, MD) Omega 1510, a lightweight, stainless-steel fabric material with a 35% open surface. Jeff Abbott, GKD-USA’s regional, architectural-sales manager, said, “The material’s horizontal rods are flattened, which enables the graphics to stand out.”

Abbott noted the Omega 1510 functions as a one-direction material, which allows fabricate to be tensioned and meet wind-load and other, critical code requirements. Also, he said its constructions allows light reflectivity and permeability, which helps ambient light change its appearance with the time of day and ambient conditions.
Using the school’s existing Pirate logo, GKD etched the surface by masking the metal’s face side and executing a proprietary process that dulls unmasked areas.

To secure the panels, GKD fabricated 1-in.-diameter, solid, stainless-steel round bard that weave into the façade at top and bottom with custom eyebolts inserted at approximately 12-in. intervals. Kaw Roofing (Kansas City, KS), which installed the panels, affixed the supports and slowly hung the panels and unrolled them from top to bottom. Securing the bottom attachments creates the necessary panel tension.

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