Studying under the sun
Harvard University’s Widener Library renovations included designing a building-within- a-building to create a reading room “under the sun.” Two skylights were installed while the building remained open. The skylight frame was mounted to hold clear, low-e glass at the building’s exterior, followed by ½-in. of air space, a silkscreen, another ¼-in. of clear glass, a laminate layer which blocks UV rays, and finally a prismatic glass on the skylight’s interior. Whew!
XXX.
Reader Service No. 330
See-through sky
Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, asked van Dijk Westlake Reed Leskosky, Cleveland, to design a connection to the school’s new addition. For special effect, the four-story atrium Great Hall was topped off by a large skylight. The custom-made BMS 3000 segmented-barrel vault skylight was installed to give staff and students an unobstructed view.
Naturalite Skylight Systems.
Reader Service No. 332
mindi – you need to check on this: if this was indeed the old Searle bldg in Skokie, I think Pharmacia may have closed it down (due to merger with Pfizer). plz check. If it’s still occupied, we can use it.
Healing rays
The Pharmacia building in Skokie, Ill.installed two skylights in its south atrium with a reflective lens film and a linear fresnel lens pattern in combination with a transparent radial lens film. The reflective film was installed to act as a “fuzzy mirror” with a 10% beam spread to help focus light onto the atrium floor, while the linear grooves provide better light fill and eliminate the annoying glare typically associated with specular reflection. The reflective lens film was laminated to the inside face of the metal panels set directly into the skylight frame itself, providing the right amount of sunlight and the look that Pharmacia wanted to achieve.
United Skys.
Reader Service No. 331
Caution: Wet floor
Southern Indiana’s Rehab Hospital in New Albany, Ind., chose the anti-microbial, smooth sheet-vinyl flooring, Londura, for their hydrotherapy room because of its ability to remain slip-free even with the extreme dampness and corrosive chemicals present in the room. Londura made the therapy room more sanitary and easier to clean, says David Reynolds, manager of facilities and purchasing for the hospital. The flooring is best for any anti-slip area in schools, fitness centers, hospitals, or retail spaces.
Lonseal.
Reader Service No. 300
Recycled flooring
Carpet collection features a minimum of 75% post-industrial recycled content nylon. The Encore Collection is solution-dyed and uses type 6,6 nylon fiber system. The carpet is backed by 100% recycled ER3 backing.
C&A.
Reader Service No. 301
Operation safety
Slip-retardant flooring created for hospital operating rooms works by incorporating a ceramic technology into the PUR-reinforced wear layer of the floor. This minimizes the need for wet cleaning methods and eliminates the need for polishing and waxing the floor. In addition, Safe-T Sheet flooring is stain-resistant to blood, Betadine, and other staining elements and is resistant to indentation from gurneys, dropped equipment, or dragged furniture.
Domco Tarkett.
Reader Service No. 302
Just your regular floor
Textured carpet offers the ribbed look with a grainy texture and can be mixed and matched for design flexibility. The Simply collection was created with eighteen designs within six families to allow designers to coordinate patterns, scales, and colors, while returning to a more “simple” look.
Milliken.
Reader Service No. 303
Education station
Hamilton, Ohio’s McMaster University, in an effort to prepare for increased enrollment in the next five years, built a new e-commerce wing in their Michael G. DeGroote School of Business. The school selected the slip-resistant Impressionist II in the color Piazza, which matched the school colors of maroon and gray, and was flexible enough to wrap around the many curved surfaces and stairs in the rooms. The flooring is resilient and minimizes noise, making it ideal for an educational environment.
Altro.
Reader Service No. 304
Over the ocean
Tampa’s International Airport newly constructed Airside E, a 14-gate facility for Delta Airlines and Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, combines carpet and 21,000 sq. ft. of porcelain stone tile to create a “shimmering effect of the ocean,” says designer Kelly Taaffe of Kelly Taaffe Design, Inc. in Tampa. The combination of carpet, and polished and unpolished tile produced a 3-D effect of a bridge over water. The unpolished Cross-Colors tiles and the polished Gentry Gold tile created the look that was desired.
Crossville.
Reader Service No. 305
Contaminant-free flooring
Rubber flooring covering offers resistance to oil and grease in a smooth, non-glare surface. It is best for industry buildings that are subject to oil and grease contamination, including shops, production areas, and assembly rooms. The floor covering is PVC- and chlorine-free, and offers extraordinary wear-resistance demanded by high performance applications.
Nora Rubber Flooring.
Reader Service No. 306
Colored walls
Opaque glass surface material can cover elevator cab interior or freestanding walls. ChromaSurface is made by laminating a printed interlayer between two pieces of safety glass. Because the color or image is in the middle and the glass is translucent, ChromaSurface is totally opaque, so that designers can choose different patterns for each side of a freestanding wall. The surface has no irregularities to capture dirt or impede through cleaning.
Cesar Color.
Reader Service No. 202
Do The Wave!
Canopy accent ceiling panels allow designers to use different colors, textures, and sizes at a variety of heights to accent ceilings in hotels, restaurants, and retail stores. Available in 2 x 5 and 2 x 6-in. sizes, the Infusions collection ranges from very soft translucents to deep tones. With translucent options, lighting can be manipulated for a variations of light and color.
Armstrong.
Reader Service No. 203
Dancin’ on the ceiling
The Children’s Place retail stores chose Harmoni ceiling tiles for their 35 new stores and any future remodeling to their 629 existing stores. Children’s Place design director Michael Dubiel chose Harmoni tiles because they appear “child-friendly and whimsical.” Dubiel said the suspended cloud feature and dimensional plaid texture of the tiles “supports the shape-oriented architectural elements in the stores, [which were] designed to appeal to children’s fascination with shapes. The tiles have a high-level of acoustical control, which make them ideal for noisy, open environments like retail stores, offices, ballrooms, restaurants, and movie theatres.”
Illbruck.
Reader Service No. 204
No need to be quiet
Textured, fiberglass-ceiling panels hold the highest possible noise reduction coefficient rating of 1.00, for use in lobbies, libraries, and open offices. The panels have a light reflectance property of LR .88, which makes them suitable for spaces with indirect lighting as well, says the maker. Halcyon Climaplus panels are available in 2 x 2, 2.5 x 2.5, 2 x 4, and 4 x 4-ft. dimensions.
USG.
Reader Service No. 205
Ceiling walls
Ceiling panels made in large-formats create a monolithic, drywall-like appearance that can be used in museums, airports, theatres, and sports arenas. Techsytle Acoustical Ceilings are made of a honeycomb structure and absorb sound at both high and low frequencies.
HunterDouglas.
Reader Service No. 206
Six different flavors
Acoustical ceiling panels come in six varieties, all which have a noise reduction coefficient of up to 1.00, a lifetime warranty against breakage, an R-value of 1.75/in., and a light reflectance of up to 0.75. The panels can be painted or used in their natural color. The high-impact wood fiber panels are abuse-resistant, says their maker, making them ideal for educational facilities, sports arenas, and recreation centers.
Tectum.
Reader Service No. 207
