ModTruss
7741 Commercial Lane, Allenton
INDUSTRY: Design-engineering
EMPLOYEES: Approximately 20
modtruss.com
On a Sunday afternoon in July, billionaire Elon Musk announced the rebranding of Twitter to “X,” promptly changing his own profile picture on the social media platform to feature the company’s new logo. Just a few days later, videos began circulating on social media of a massive, X-shaped structure, complete with flashing lights, placed atop Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters. The sign was installed without the city’s permission and, after numerous complaints, was removed just three days later.
The “X” sign that garnered global attention was designed and built right here in southeastern Wisconsin, by Allenton-based design firm ModTruss.
To bring Elon Musk’s vision to life – if only temporarily – the company used its flagship product, a modular building component called a “truss.” Each truss is shaped like a cube and has bolt holes that are placed every three inches along all six sides of the block. This allows for a near-limitless assortment of installation and building options.
“Think of it as LEGOS. If a kid has a pile of LEGOS, everything he builds is a custom project, but it’s all being built with standard-sized bricks,” said Patrick Santini, founder and chief executive officer of ModTruss. “That’s kind of how we operate here as well, every project that comes through here is very unique.”
The idea for ModTruss grew out of the entertainment industry. Santini previously ran production companies Kernwer LLC and Northern Lights Production, which built broadcast sets for sports television programming on every major network, he said.
“Building broadcast sets was always a challenge with traditional parts,” said Santini. “So, we started developing ModTruss. Most building components are only designed to connect end to end. If you look at our product, it’s similar to an erector set where there’s a hole pattern around the entire length of the product, which really allows you to free-form design.”
Once the ModTruss product line was spun off from Northern Lights, it expanded beyond the entertainment industry into other sectors such as construction, aerospace, trade shows and events.
“Anywhere you have a structural problem, we grew into those markets,” said Santini.
Twitter’s “X” sign is the second Elon Musk-related project ModTruss has been commissioned to build. The first was the main entrance for the grand opening of Tesla’s gigafactory in Texas.
When the company was approached once again by Musk’s team in July, it was given only one day to prepare for the build-out.
“It’s not uncommon in the special events world to have timelines like that,” said Santini. “It’s also part of the reason they chose our product line. They could build (the structure) with off-the-shelf parts.”
ModTruss was presented with a theoretical sketch for the “X” sign. That sketch then went to one of the process engineers for optimization into a buildable platform. Final approval came from a structural engineer who tested the sign for safety, ensuring it could withstand the elements, especially the wind.
Once built, the entire structure, including the base, was 26 feet tall. The “X” alone was 17.9 feet tall.
“This project made a controversial splash just because of the nature of how the public perceived it,” said Santini.
So, what happened to the “X” sign once it was taken down? All the standard pieces that made up the structure were broken down and sent back to ModTruss.
“I can promise you it has already been installed in two or three other event structures,” said Santini.
Since word got out that ModTruss helped design the infamous sign, the company has garnered increased attention to its product, but overall Santini said it’s been business as usual.
“Most of the people in the industry already knew it was ModTruss. They didn’t need to be told,” he said. “Once you know what ModTruss looks like, you can tell there’s a brand within a brand when you’re looking at that ‘X.’”
ModTruss is currently adding a new 20,000-square-foot building ats its headquarters for warehousing space. The company is also actively hiring.
