With the opening of the newly remodeled Westfield Santa Anita Mall in Arcadia, Calif., earlier this year, shoppers were introduced to a sophisticated new Center Court, which serves as a central meeting place for the entire mall.
When designing the space, John Reistetter, lead architect for Westfield Design & Construction, Century City, Calif., envisioned a new living room or lounge environment that would draw visitors to the 41,500-square-foot Center Court.
Reistetter wanted to include an architectural element that would reduce the scale of the exposed 80-foot ceiling. “We needed a second ceiling layer-something that would bring the ceiling closer to the floor-while allowing transparency to the clerestory windows in the existing ceiling,” he explains.
The design concept Reistetter developed called for a ceiling treatment resembling an open white trellis. “The trellis concept came in as a filtering element,” adds consulting architect Bob Mahlebashian. “Something that would filter what’s above from what’s below.”
The design team created a prototype of one of the slats and hired specialty ceiling contractor Martin Integrated Systems, Orange, Calif., to design and install a ceiling system that would mimic the trellis design. “Originally, they were thinking the trellis would be made from wood,” says Marty Hovivian, president of Martin Integrated Systems, “but I suggested that it be made from metal instead because it is a much lighter and safer material.”
Designing the Ceiling Trellis
Working with the You Inspire Solutions Center at Lancaster, Pa.-based Armstrong, the contractor was able to specify a custom metal ceiling system that met the criteria for the trellis design. “After looking at the renderings and initial sketches, we realized that we could modify some custom systems we already have to create designs and new parts and pieces to make it work within their design intent,” says Jim Kelley, manager of the Armstrong You Inspire Solutions Center.
The result was an Armstrong MetalWorks Blades custom ceiling system installed in two runs on each side of the Center Court. Each run of the white aluminum blades is roughly 226 feet long and 26 feet wide. The blades are 12 inches high and 2 3/8 inches deep with 3-foot vertical returns at each end. They are installed approximately 16 inches apart on-center at a height 45 feet above the floor. After building a mockup to demonstrate how the metal blades would fit around the vertical concrete columns in the Center Court, Westfield Design & Construction gave Martin Integrated Systems permission to move forward with the ceiling installation.
“These parts were all custom factory-finished which is difficult for a fabricator to do,” says Hovivian. “We gave Armstrong the dimensions and locations for each of the blades and they took the drawing and fabricated them according to our specifications.”
Meeting the Seismic Requirements
Before installing the blades, the ceiling contractor designed a drywall suspension system that complied with the load carrying and seismic requirements for the area. “We had to build vertical faces out of the drywall grid and brace them to control movement of the blades,” explains Hovivian. “During an earthquake, the ceiling moves left to right. The vertical face provides the seismic control needed to keep the blades from breaking free during seismic activity.”
The custom clips Armstrong provided to attach the blades to the suspension system also had to be tested to make sure they could withstand a seismic event. “You don’t want the whole thing shaking from the ceiling and falling down,” he says. “The whole ceiling system has to work together to meet the seismic requirements.”
Working on a tight deadline, Martin Integrated Systems completed the ceiling installation within six months from seeing the initial drawing. “We were in a real crunch to finish the job by Thanksgiving,” explains Hovivian. “We went from a napkin sketch to a complete install in six months.”
The Westfield design team was pleased with the result, describing the ceiling treatment as one of the most successful elements of the overall project. “The white blade ceiling system aesthetically defines the way we wanted the space to appear,” says Reistetter. “It breaks down the overall volume of the Center Court while allowing illumination and providing contrast to the darkly painted existing ceiling. It creates an ambience and makes the space feel more intimate.”
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Nathan Baxter is marketing manager, architectural specialties, at Armstrong Commercial Ceilings in Lancaster, Pa. To learn more, visit www.armstrong.com/commceilingsna or call (877) ARMSTRONG.