Designed by Eric Owen Moss Architects, Pterodactyl was completed in spring 2015. Perched atop an existing four level parking garage, the 16,663-square-foot building is formed by the intersection of nine rectangular boxes that are lifted one level above the garage roof and stacked either on top of or adjacent to each other. The boxes organize essential program elements connected by an interior second floor bridge. The undersides of the boxes are cut out to accommodate an open plan on the main office floor below.

The facade is clad in more than 19,000 square feet of Rheinzink prePATINA blue-grey Flat Lock panels. In addition, approximately 3,600 square feet of the panels were used in a low-slope roof application.

“We like to use a relatively small palette of materials,” said Raul Garcia, project architect with Eric Owen Moss. “That really helps create the dramatic space because it allows the focus to be on the form, and the spatial aspects that the form creates.

“We had used Rheinzink on an earlier project known as the Beehive, and we were really happy with it—both initially and over time, as the patina gave the building a life of its own,” says Garcia. “So we were excited to use Rheinzink on this project as well. We like the color and the grain of the architectural zinc and the fact that it patinas and changes over time.”

The detailing and installation of the Flat Lock panels was as complex and unique as the architecture itself. “One of the great attributes of Rheinzink is its workability,” Garcia said. “Installers were able to customize it onsite to fit complicated areas around beams and in tight corners.”

A challenging aspect of the installation was wrapping the Flat Lock panels around the edges and corners. Gary McKee, Rheinzink’s West Coast regional sales manager, noted, “Most installers would end the panel at a corner rather than turning it—but that’s not what the design team wanted. Turning the Flat Lock panel is doable, but it’s not easy and it requires a skilled installer.”