The Cleveland School of the Arts is committed to making a long-term impact on its students, in humanities, sciences and the arts. The new school building was designed with Dri-Design VMZINC panels to impact the neighborhood and make an artful statement for decades to come. Zinc helps ground the building and provides a strong aesthetic, thereby creating a trademark feature on the public thoroughfare side of the school.
“We were asked to create a fun, exciting education facility to house the visual arts and performing arts curriculum at this school,” says Mark Schirmer, a project manager with Moody Nolan Inc., Columbus, Ohio. “The form was to inspire creativity, and a dynamic flow attributed to the multiple arts being instructed here. Dri-Design provided outstanding technical support and cost evaluations throughout the design phases and into the construction process.”
United Glass & Panel Systems, North Canton, Ohio, installed 26,189 square feet of 1-mm VMZINC Panels in QUARTZ-ZINC and ANTHRA-ZINC. ANTHRA-ZINC is a rich, charcoal black panel that offers natural color variations. It was used to clad a black box theater, emphasizing the program of the form. QUARTZ-ZINC is pre-weathered to achieve a matt-grey appearance. Both types of zinc will patina over time, with QUARTZ-ZINC getting darker and ANTHRA-ZINC getting lighter. This natural process enhances the beauty of zinc.
“There is no maintenance required for zinc panels because the aging process creates a natural protective coating,” says Brad Zeeff, president of Dri-Design. “Dri-Design also does not require any tapes, sealants or caulks in the installation process. This enhances the sustainability and longevity of all Dri-Design metal panels.”
The new 126,000-square-foot building is 33 percent larger than the former structure—a 1910 brick building—that stood at the same site. The school, which was founded in 1981, has been eagerly awaiting its new building, while operating from a temporary space since 2009.
With the new building, students now have many art-specific amenities, including studio classrooms, a black box theater, rehearsal and instructional spaces, a recording studio and choral room. Core subjects, like English, chemistry, biology and physics, also have dedicated classrooms. All of this, mixed with outstanding students and faculty, makes the Cleveland School of Arts one of the most prestigious and successful schools in the area.
To learn more about VMZINC, which is manufactured and marketed by Umicore Building Products USA, click here.