Building fires have marked some of the most tragic events in world history. From the long-ago street fires in Chicago to a more recent example at Grenfell Tower in London, fire continues to shape the ways we build and thus, the ways we design. And...
The right materials can be hard to find, and even harder to specify. Why? Generally, there is little correlation between beauty and performance. Attractive materials can be expensive to source and install or are wholly unsustainable from their inception to the end of the product...
Color is a universal, visual language. Studies have shown people across the world, in varied cultures, genders, and ages, have shared ideas about color connotations and the moods associated with different colors. Red can be perceived as fiery and passionate, while green is often considered...
Silver metals typically signify natural materials and alloys such as stainless, zinc, and nickel, whose usage in design dates back to 18th century Europe. In the United States, Zinc was first used in the 1820’s for roofing systems and Nickel was a popular finish for...
Visual interest in design often extends past the colors and patterns of the materials into their applications. Whether interior or exterior, designers know walls are not meant to simply enclose a space, but should add ambiance, elegance, and meaning with colors and textures....
Bexar County Public Works, completed in 2019, was featured in the January issue of Metal Architecture. The project features several metals on the building in several unique applications. Our scope included the window surround of the front perforated window in Parisian Rust. This finish is...
Bronze is often architecturally misrepresented as generic term for a dark, brown metals. True bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, whereas most “bronze” seen in commercial usage is an alloy of copper and zinc, making it brass and not actually bronze at all!...
2019 was a profound year for Pure + FreeForm. Landmark projects such as Chase Center, Moxy Chelsea, REI Spring District, 108 Chambers, and multiple scopes at Hudson Yards in NYC, prove both the power and beauty of purposeful design....
Moxy Chelsea was featured in the Hospitality Focus of the November, 2019 issue of Metal Construction News. The project, designed by Stonehill and Taylor Architects PC, features the finish Nomad Steel in a slab edge form on 33 floors of the building facade. Aluminum was...
Traditional interior metals have been defined by either natural surfaces and materials or paint, neither of which are truly relevant to most projects and offer little variety in appearance from one project to the next. Designers today need the ability to create site-specific and contextual...
