Dimensional Innovations Helps Facility Repurpose As Performing-Arts Center

Dimensional Innovations (Overland Park, KS) provides full-service fabrication and design for sports arenas, healthcare facilities and retail spaces, among many others. In 2006, the shop earned Best of Show in ST’s International Sign Contest for its external walls of the parking garage at the downtown branch of the Kansas City Public Library.

“With all design, production and fabrication under one roof, we frequently bring them together for design charettes to provide real-time feedback,” Tucker Trotter, Dimensional Innovations’ president, said. “Sometimes, the slightest process adjustments can boost our yield and, in turn, a job’s profit.”

He continued, “Better, faster, cheaper is now just a marketplace expectation. Increasingly, we’re having customers ask us to standardize their branding packages. This means that we create repeatable design details that allow cost-effective brand roll-outs For example, we might recommend a backplate for an exterior sign. This will be used at hundreds of locations and will allow more seamless installation and less building penetration.”

Trotter said the company has benefited from efficiencies gained through upgrades in such design programs as Revit, 3D Studio Max and SolidWorks. He said that, if an architect has already developed a 3-D building model with Revit, it’s more efficient to work with the same program. For 3-D models, designers create a geometric pattern with SolidWorks and then complete the rendering in 3D Studio Max.

However, Trotter said the most significant development has been Dimensional Innovations’ procurement of a ZCorp 3-D printer. They use it to present conceptual designs, which Trotter said is more effective than 3-D renderings – “particularly in helping clients visualize large, iconic structures,” he said.

“The ironic thing is, embracing this cutting-edge technology has made our design process more analog,” Trotter said. “We test our prototypes more often, and we bring in our clients to look at the samples. We have to understand the tool’s tolerances and strengths, and how to finish the print.”

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He said the shop has also benefited from a hydraulic press brake, which has simplified its metal-forming process, and that printers’ continual evolution makes digital graphics increasingly dynamic.

The company’s sterling reputation has earned it many prominent sign projects in the Kansas City area, such as the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity, home of the Kansas City Ballet. The project repurposed a building that had originally been built in 1914 to serve as a coal-burning power plant. BNIM served as the project’s architect, and J.E. Dunn operated as the general contractor.

To make the signage harmonize with the Center’s redefined architecture, Trotter proposed a slight reduction in the LED-lit letters. To maintain the letters’ impact, Dimensional Innovations’ design team subtly manipulated the Roman typeface’s thin stroke without altering the intended look.

Regarding sign trends, Trotter said he hopes to see “more meaningful interaction between technology and human beings.” He continued, “So often, we see digital signage placed in environments just for the sake of having digital signage. This doesn’t leverage the technology’s capabilities, and, at some point, we will become jaded to the technology. RFID and other, proximity-communication technologies offer a real chance for people to engage in their environments in inspiring ways. It’s up to designers and fabricators to help them realize this potential.”