Nestled in the plains of Topeka, Kansas, lies the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center, a place where its core mission is to enhance the lives of children and enrich the communities they serve. So, when the University of Kansas’ School of Architecture and Design was approached to help build a canopy for the Center, the students jumped at the chance to get hands on experience while giving the current and future generations of children to enjoy.

The Center was looking for a canopy structure that was sturdy and would blend in with the surrounding structures on site. They also asked for a piece that would capture the attention of the children while providing a safe shelter to allow kids to enjoy the scenery outside. The KU students decided to use HSS material mix along with support tubes running across the top that is finished off by repurposed sheet steel for cover.

With a plan in place, the students began putting together ideas on how to build the strong structural shape that would hold up to the outdoor elements. From there, hot-dip galvanizing became a strong candidate for their needs. KU approached the galvanizer with this project in hopes to accomplish their goal of providing a long-lasting solution to the children that visit the Discovery Center daily.

By going with hot-dip galvanizing, this ensured that corrosion would be a non-factor for both inside and outside the hollow structures. In the end, the job produced more than just a canopy – it provided everyone involved an opportunity to give back to the local community in which we serve.

Thank you to all the students from University of Kansas that was involved with the project.
University of Kansas Architecture - ARCH 509 Design-Build Studio
Students: Geraughty Badger, Kendall Belcher, Ethan Eben-Herrera, Jonathan Guzman, Jahnavi Kalani, Celine Khashram, Molly Knake, Hannah Kouri, Alyssa Mckee, Jonathan Moebius, Walter Rundgren, Salomi Saiyed, Ethan Seiler, Jordan Vonderbrink, Robert Zoschke, Lauren Black, Matt Gallentine, Julia Gillman, Jeffrey Mcbee, Eliott Freeman, Ryan Nguyen, Maggie Roux, Ethan Witt, Santiago Patino, Leo Aguilar-Behsman, Justin Fontaine, Jodi Gore, Jack Leff, Jared Lombardi, Ethan Overland, Zach Poelzl, Sarah Preston
Instructor: Keith Van de Riet