Collection by Luke Hopping
Modern Ways to Use Zinc at Home
Zinc adds a leaden-blue sheen to these industrial-style homes.
“We like old stuff, and we like reusing the same materials over and over again,” says Middendorp, who built the kitchen pantry from the home’s old wooden flooring and zinc from their former countertop. Leen commissioned a local ironsmith to create the 11-foot-long kitchen island, as well as the staircase that connects her ground-floor workshop with the family’s living space upstairs.
"The most challenging aspect of the project was the client’s directive to 'design an art gallery we can live in,'" says architect Jeff Dolezal of local firm Tack Architects. Though the house is quite large—over 10,000 square feet—it was constructed with green design principals in mind. It features low-VOC paints and interior finishes, locally sourced materials, blown in soy-based spray foam exterior insulation, skylights and solatubes for natural daylighting, and FSC certified lumber, and LED light fixtures. The exterior is clad in zinc and cedar.