Freeze Frame

A closer look at the hottest solutions from July

Staff -- Interior Design, 7/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Light and lively

Employees at ABN AMRO's regional headquarters in Chicago lunch in high style, in a cafeteria by VOA Associates. The room is fronted by nine glass panels lit by fiber optics that are programmed to change color for preset lengths of time. Stone Creviston Coddington provided the fiber optics, Skyline Design sandblasted a wave pattern on the full-height panels of 1/2-inch-thick tempered glass, and Trainor Glass Company handled the installation.

The glass panels are clipped to the cafeteria's canted plasterboard walls via Fiberstars's U-shape aluminum Lightframe channels. Each panel has its own source of illumination: 150-watt metal halide lamping concealed in the canted walls. A central control keeps the fiber-optic colors in synch. "Geometry Lesson," page 190. —K.D.S.

Noises off

To increase visual interest while decreasing noise, Huntsman Architectural Group turned to Wall Technology's Eurospan ceiling system for Redwood Trust's office in Mill Valley, California. Able to mimic drywall—but with minimal joints and a higher noise-reduction coefficient—the product comprises a flame-resistant polyester scrim stretched over a medium-density glass-fiber core, with a 1/2-inch air pocket. Available in widths up to 16 feet, the fabric features an interlocking weave that can be cut for lighting and sprinkler penetrations. (Additional blocking is required to maintain the shape of holes larger than 6 inches.) Thanks to B-Line Systems's aluminum supports, which attach to Eurospan's tension-track frame of rigid flame-retardant PVC, the entire ceiling system appears to hover in midair. "Seismic Shift," page 204. —K.D.S.