Multi-color metal-panel façade gives suburban adventure park an urban edge
“Activate Awesome” is the slogan for Urban Air Adventure Parks, a nationwide chain of family activity centers featuring trampolines, climbing walls, skydiving tunnels and obstacle courses. The designs of these facilities range from a mix of edgy skateboard culture to urban/industrial design. Metal wall panels bring both these influences together for the façade of a new Urban Air franchise that recently opened in Dublin, Ohio.
If you haven’t heard of Urban Air, you likely will soon. The company has one of the fastest-growing franchise operations in the country, having grown to more than 260 locations open or under development since its 2011 founding. The state of Ohio, alone, has five franchises now up and running.
M+A Architects’ Columbus, Ohio, office led the design team for Urban Air’s new Dublin branch, and their exterior materials palette was simple, yet eye-catching. Above a base of vertically oriented EIFS in a metallic finish, metal wall panels are installed horizontally in three complementary finishes. The entrance is called out with vertical corrugated panels in yet another finish.
The architects specified PAC-CLAD products from Petersen for the project. These included 8,250 sq. ft. of the company’s 7.2 Panel in Stone White, Bone White and Cityscape finishes for the façade and 1,300 sq. ft. of 7/8-in. Corrugated panels for the entrance in a Silver finish. All the panels are fabricated from sturdy 24-gauge steel.
The park didn’t have the best timing with its opening – it hosted its first guests on March 13, 2020. Just three days later, Ohio’s Gov. Mike DeWine shut down all such entertainment venues in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It since has reopened, however, offering families with kids who might be learning from home a chance to burn off energy in a multitude of ways.
