Atlantic Packaging, one of the country’s leading providers of packaging equipment and materials recently opened a Packaging Solution Center to help its customers develop the optimal packaging to protect their products. It is the first of its kind in the industry to offer this type of help to its customers. The new Center is located in a space that previously housed lines of rolling paper cutters.
According to architect Tom Duzan, aesthetics, acoustics, and imagery were the primary drivers behind the interior design of the new facility. “The existing space had a bare-bones industrial warehouse look including a dark, exposed pre-cast concrete deck,” he states. “Because of its new function, we wanted the space to be cleaner, brighter, and better reflect the modern nature of their business.”
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Solution:
To help attain the desired look, the design team selected Serpentina® Classic ceiling panels from Armstrong Ceiling Solutions. Serpentina is a 3D pre-engineered curved metal ceiling system that adds dramatic visual impact to a space through the creation of hills, valleys, and wave patterns. Especially well-suited for use in exposed structures, the Serpentina panels at Atlantic Packaging are white in color, 2’x 5’ in size, and installed in runs of fifty feet each.
To impart even more visual interest, each run features a pair of undulating ribbons of Serpentina installed parallel to each other and offset by half an arc. Duzan explains that Atlantic Packaging’s initial product line was large flowing rolls of paper. “The long, undulating ribbons represent that portion of their history.”
The facility also functions as a “Customer Experience Center” where the company can demonstrate different types of integrated packaging lines as well as testing equipment that simulates how to safely and efficiently package products for transport.
To implement this portion of the Center’s function, the company conducts tours ofthe facility. “Customers must be able to hear and understand the guide,” Duzan states, “so acoustics was an important consideration. In addition, the machinery can get loud, making it even more essential to control reverberation in the space.”
To obtain the desired acoustic performance, the Serpentina panels are perforated and backed with an acoustical fleece. This results in a Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) of 0.77, indicating the panels absorb 77% of the sound that strikes them.
“Even though it is a manufacturing type of environment, we wanted to do something special,” Duzan concludes, “and the ability of the Serpentina panels to address both acoustics and aesthetics went a long way toward reaching that goal.”
