College of DuPage McAninch Arts Center
Glen Ellyn, IL
Category: 2014 Education, Unique Installation Challenge
Gold Winner Education, Bronze Winner People’s Choice
Designer: Edge Design, LLC
Starnet Member:
Consolidated Flooring of Chicago
Starnet Preferred Vendors:
Antron Carpet Fiber, Antron, ARDEX, Johnsonite By Tarkett, Mannington Commercial Carpet, Tarkett Soft Surface
Project Strategy
The McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage has undergone an incredible transformation over the last three years with the final phase of remodel and design just recently completed. Since opening in 1986, the MAC has featured some of the finest performers in theater, music, dance and visual arts through local and noteworthy professionals, faculty and students. In an attempt to bring the boring lackluster design of yesterday up to speed with the talent it produces and promotes today, the President of the College made it a priority to focus on the strengths Fine Arts offer. With a design vision driven by empowerment, art and music in rhythm, tempo and movement a concept was born. “Marching to the Beat of Your Own Drum.” The flooring design became an abstract piece of art within itself. The main lobby conceptually depicts a piano, guitar and beats of music in abstract rhythmic frequencies. Carpet tile in gradient shades of gray with bright, saturated inlays were meticulously selected to help encourage a tempo in step throughout the main corridors, in student niches and more specifically as an introduction to key spaces and smaller theatres located within the building.
Unique Installation Challenge Strategy
The Challenge: Addressing the concerns the owner had with acoustics in a building dependent on proper sound absorption while meeting the request to bring some life back to the building through color and artistic expression. Prior to renovation, one could walk this building and see nothing but brown paver tiles and brown cinder block for as far as the eye could see. Through the introduction of carpet tiles and Powerbond capable of producing intricate and stimulating design throughout the building, not only were the challenges met but they were exceeded. Apart from meeting the acoustic challenge were the installation challenges presented through complex pattern inlays, scale of various shapes and patterns, unique radius and inlay spacing, flooring shifts, directional dependency and the difficult phasing required to maintain the integrity of the final and intended design. This made understanding the impact these challenges and case specific design requests would have on the users once completed an important quality for the installation team to prove and ultimately played a huge role in the overall success of this project.