Architectural Insights from AIA MN ’23 Show

Posted November 20, 2023

In Architectural Use, Business, Custom Metal Fabrication, Metal Fabrication, Perforated Aluminum Balcony Railings, Perforated Aluminum Panels, Perforated Metal, Perforated Stainless Steel, StellarCraft™, Your Metal Fabricator

Last week our Stellarcraft and Architectural Metals team at Astro had the pleasure of exhibiting at AIA MN ’23 Show at the Minneapolis Depot. AIA MN’23 was a powerful event filled with inspiring and educational programming, opportunities for connection and networking throughout the architectural industry.

With the show being at a new venue this year, the atmosphere on the show floor seemed much more intimate and dynamic. It was great seeing all of the different vendors and products when walking the show floor. The connections we made with other exhibitors and attendees was the highlight of the show. Building business relationships are key to our success.

We were excited to showcase our Stellarcraft Stellar balcony system at the show this year. Astro was able to create a sample balcony system for our booth, complete with two perforated panels that demonstrated some of our infill capabilities. One panel had our cosmic pattern, which is one of our 12 Standard perforation options. It is also one of our most popular. The other pattern had a custom design which included our Astro star. Attendees were able to see first hand how our balcony system works, and visualize how our perforated panels might look on their next project.

When talking to the architects walking the floor, we found it was a common misconception that custom perforations would often need to be laser cut and therefore be too expensive. The cool, custom element would then get value engineered out of their projects. Fortunately, we were able to reassure attendees that thanks to Astro’s equipment, particularly on the TruPunch 3000 and 5000, we have the capabilities to create fun and interesting designs that can flexible to budget constraints.

If you are looking to add a custom element to your next architectural project we would love to talk to you about how we can incorporate our Stellarcraft™ Architectural Metal Products. You can reach us at sales@stellarcraftmetals.com . You can also visit our newly rebranded Stellarcraft™ website for more information on our following products: