Extreme performance meets captivating visual expression.

Cadence's® Palladium® Z1 is the first datacenter-class enterprise emulation system. The Z1 platform helps companies that manufacture computer systems, semiconductors, consumer electronics, or networking/telecommunications equipment to test and debug their products—significantly reducing their development-cycle, improving turnaround time, and allowing customers to address issues early-on.

Palladium® Z1's ability to imitate software, hardware, and circuitry of products that are not yet commercially launched on the market is unmatched—delivering up to 5x better emulation throughput and 2.5x better workload efficiency than its closest competitor. Its design challenges preconceived notions that industrial products with extreme functionality requirements (such as intense cooling needs) are not able to be expressive and beautiful.

Palladium® Z1 was designed with the intention of capturing a unique voice and soul for an often overlooked object in the belly of semiconductor, computer system, and telecommunications companies around the world. The system marries extreme performance with a captivating visual expression—transforming the conventional louver architecture into a brilliantly vibrant façade, while maintaining maximum cooling power and efficiency. An intentional decision was made to make the Palladium Z1's® functionality, as well as its need for airflow and cooling, a distinct part of its visual identity.

Due to the tremendous amount of power needed to run the system, maintaining high levels of airflow through the front door to retain the product's temperature and avoid overheating meant that as much as 75% open area was required for the lower portion of the rack with. At the same time, the system's inner-workings and wires needed to be hidden from view when the access door was closed. Early prototyping showed that variable spacing of louvers between the top and bottom of the rack was necessary to achieve desired airflow. To address the visual hurdle of variable spaced louvers, the design team embraced the variation by also tilting each individual louver at different angles down the face of the door. The resulting effect is a gradation of the fractal pattern not unlike water as it cascades down a waterfall.

To achieve the fractal pattern in manufacturing, the team came up with an ingenious solution that required only two unique alternating parts for the louvers. These two parts were created by hydroforming each alternating pair from a single 2.5mm thick sheet of aluminum, laser-cutting them apart, and then applying a transparent blue tint powder coating (giving the product an iridescent quality).

Under the hood, Palladium Z1® delivers; the system's cables, connectors, drawers, and visual hierarchy of information make every element of the system feel intentional and functional to support a seamless customer experience—from the field service engineer installing the system, to the IT specialist being able to effortlessly open drawers from the front without the need for special tools.

The Palladium Z1's® visual presence complements the system's leading-edge technology elevating Cadence's® brand recognition and reputation within the industry. The product's quiet confidence and unique design expression showcases Cadence's® commitment to creating standout, charismatic products in the enterprise space. With this flagship product, we've taken their soft blue brand color and created an ownable three-dimensional equity—facet and fractal qualities that can be translated to other hardware pieces in their portfolio.