PHOENIX — Most of the $245 million interior transformation of the home of the Phoenix Suns is seen by people buying tickets to games and concerts, but one portion of the project that was completed by a Chandler-based company can be enjoyed by anyone downtown.
That's the exterior "skin" of the Footprint Center. The kinetic walls were designed to look like rippling water when the wind blows or like the blaze of a fire when the sun hits it right.
Chandler-based Kovach Enclosure Systems LLC recently completed the project that covers 45,000 square feet of the south and west sides of the arena with the 130,000 6-inch by 6-inch aluminum flaps that are free to move with the elements.
Kovach, which has a plant in Chandler, manufactured all of the flaps and engineered the panels that now cover the two sides of the structure.
"We are proud we can fabricate, design and engineer all out of our home for the arena," James Hatch, vice president of Kovach preconstruction, said. "We are life-long Phoenix Suns' fans."
