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Static no longer, walls and ceilings can undulate and wave to pump up design impact.
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By Mary Scoviak
Travelers are lobbying for public spaces where they can spend time eating, drinking, socializing and working as they do in their favorite "third places" near home. Hotel and restaurant operators are lobbying for spaces where guests can spend money eating, drinking, socializing and working. Designers have to supply the statement-making common ground. Their job is to carve out welcoming zones within these hangar-sized spaces without interrupting the sight lines or traffic flow to the revenue drivers on offer.
Inventive hardware solutions, such as 3form's new Shapes line, make space planning an art - or, more literally, a work of art. By combining ecoresin panels with turnkey hardware systems, such as cable-and-rod and variable angled stand-offs, designers can ripple ceiling treatments into waves to aid way-finding, curve walls into sculptures that differentiate experiences in restaurants and partition bars with sensual twists of ecoresin. Santiago Calatrava (the Spanish architect/sculptor who sent the wing-like brise-soleil soaring above the Milwaukee Art Museum), eat your heart out.
Variable connectors and a wide range of options for panel gauge and length make customization simple. Panel units edge-match so that they be used to cover long expanses without sacrificing either stability or flow. Shapes' Flow panels can be linked into a sinuous highway to create fluid motion. Zigzag's angular surface, with its varying levels of compression, gives a tactile quality when connected to form a linear wall. Twist answers demand for more transparency. Available in 8- or 10-foot lengths, these slices of ecoresin can be slanted slightly for a linear look or rotated up to 270 degrees.
Because Shapes' hardware is designed to both suspend and support, it opens up a new canvas for vertical spaces and ceilings. Forms fuse into waves using a versatile, single panel repeat pattern that can transit across the largest open-plan lobby. This dramatic treatment can establish continuity that unifies public spaces, directs guests to elevators, restaurants or meeting/function space or cost-effectively masks the aging effects of ceiling tiles and popcorn ceilings. A tool kit of adapters, balls, sockets and stand-offs gives designers ample options for how the pieces can fit together.
"No matter what we imagine, our clients go so far beyond that," says Jill Canales, vp of marketing and design for the Salt Lake City-based company. "For example, they've created cascades of geometric forms that flutter from the ceiling. One designer clad an elevator with Sculptural Form so that it looks like basket weave. There are lots of ways to play with gauge, weight and color," says Canales.
The choice of surface treatment also impacts the aesthetic. "The Sandstone finish is best for walls that take a lot of abuse. It's virtually scratch-resistant," says Canales. "Patent can scratch, but it can be repaired. Patina is beautiful, but it's also the most vulnerable and can't be repaired. We recommend that for areas that require high style but don't have to withstand high touch."
A vapor interlayer can be used to vary the level of transparency. For added impact, Canales recommends integration with other elements, especially lighting. "LED generates amazing effects. However, there is a cost issue," Canales says. "Sometimes, it's more about where the light is. The trend has been toward backlighting. But front-lighting is very effective when you want to emphasize shapes and shadows."
SPEC SHEET
Product: Shapes
Company: 3form, Salt Lake City, www.3-form.com
Description: Turnkey hardware system such as cable-and-rod and variable angled stand-offs that can be combined with ecoresin panels
Potential uses: Partitions, sculptural design elements, ceiling or wall camouflage
Details of note: More than 50,000 color options, edge-matching
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