Woburn, Massachusetts (Jan. 2024) – RHEINZINK America celebrates its recent industry-leading awards, recognizing its sustainable architectural zinc products and innovative design applications.
“We appreciate these prestigious honors and are proud to highlight the natural beauty, sustainability and longevity of RHEINZINK’s architectural zinc,” said Charles (Chip) McGowan, president of RHEINZINK America. “It is especially rewarding to receive such a warm reception for our RHEINZINK-prePATINA® ECO ZINC – the first architectural zinc material in the world to reduce an already small carbon footprint by more than half.”
Architectural Record’s Best Architectural Products of the Year honored RHEINZINK-prePATINA ECO ZINC as the Best in Category among the Best Building Systems & Components of 2023. An independent jury of six U.S.-based architects and designers selected the 52 winners and those with the highest jury score were awarded Best in Category. Among the jurors, Vivian Lee, Gensler’s design director and senior associate, FAIA, LEED AP, said, “While zinc cladding is not new, RHEINZINK’s prePATINA uses 50% less CO₂ to produce. It’s a sustainable option for exterior building enclosures that can still afford the same visual aesthetics.”
Available with a pre-weathered, vintage appearance in blue-grey and graphite-grey, RHEINZINK-prePATINA’s zinc surface responds to its environment with a dynamic patina that evolves through the decades. Projects benefit from the natural metal’s sustainably processed, infinitely recyclable material and a lifespan of up to 100 years or more. At the end of its use on a building, the zinc material is 100% recyclable, maximizing cradle-to-cradle benefits.
RHEINZINK-prePATINA ECO ZINC reduced-carbon, architectural-grade zinc also was selected as a Judges’ Pick in the Building Design+Construction (BD+C) 75 Top Building Products for 2023. Judges reviewed submissions from product manufacturers serving the U.S./Canadian buildings markets and evaluated entries for their potential benefits to project teams, usefulness to owners, impact on occupants and overall innovation in the product category. Meeting these criteria, RHEINZINK’s ECO ZINC was honored in the Building Envelope Products category.
In addition to RHEINZINK’s award-winning products, the Metal Construction Association presented RHEINZINK with a 2023 Design Award for Excellence in Metal Architecture in the Residential Roof category for California’s 4/Way House project. Award recipients also were featured at METALCON 2023. Created by Deegan-Day Design & Architecture, this custom home showcases RHEINZINK-prePATINA to maximize natural materials and scenic views, while taking a protective stance against the elements including wildfire. Old Country Millwork supplied RHEINZINK’s zinc material for the roof and cladding system, which Atlas Sheet Metal installed as a panelized standing-seam system.
Internationally, the Architects’ Darlings 2023 Awards honored RHEINZINK with four gold awards in the categories of exterior wall cladding, roof coverings (pitched roofs), best website and best reference project. The project award recognized California’s Suspension House enveloped in RHEINZINK-prePATINA blue-grey architectural zinc from its roof to its walls and facade to the underside of its decks. Designed by Fougeron Architecture, the single-family home seems to defy gravity, floating above a waterfall in the forest. This elaborate renovation project modernized and expanded an existing house, carefully enhancing its construction and integrating it harmoniously into the revived forested landscape.
