A 21st Century Law Office

by Jonathan McGaha | January 31, 2017 12:00 am

Metal ceiling clouds create signature spaces

When Atlanta’s Alston & Bird[1] went through a renovation, it shed the traditional design that defined the national law firm’s headquarters for the last 25 years for a more sleek, contemporary design. Located on the top 16 floors of the 50-story One Atlantic Center, the firm has state-of-the-art communications technology, putting it on the cutting edge of modern office design.

Rita Carson Guest, FASID, president and director of design at Atlanta-based Carson Guest Interior Design[2], says the firm asked for a “contemporary, plus, plus space.” The interior design firm transformed the Alston & Bird’s 365,419 square feet into a functional and sustainable 21st century law office.

The top three floors of the law firm were gutted and converted into a signature space featuring a reception area, dining area, mock courtroom and a number of conference rooms, including a videoconference room.

To control acoustics in the dining area and videoconference room, pods of curved metal ceiling clouds were suspended, which also keeps with the firm’s contemporary design. “These are the public areas of the firm where most of the meetings take place,” explains Guest. “We didn’t want flat white acoustical ceilings. The ceilings needed to be interesting and create the illusion of height.”

In the dining area, Lancaster, Pa.-based Armstrong Ceiling Solutions[3] supplied nine aluminum ceiling clouds in a Wild Cherry Reflections laminate finish to add the desired warmth to the 4,000-square-foot space, while providing excellent acoustical control. Armstrong’s custom-curved MetalWorks Torsion Spring panels were used to create the clouds. Seven of the clouds measure 12 feet by 22 feet, and two are 9 feet by 22 feet. The panels were manufactured in 36 inch by 7-foot, 6-inch modules with a 1/2-inch reveal around each module, and coordinating 6-inch Axiom perimeter trim.

Five aluminum ceiling clouds with a bright, white finish called Whitelume, provides the needed high light reflectance to the 1,400-square-foot videoconference room. Guest says light reflectance was very important in the room, and the bright, white ceiling gives the space a contemporary feel. The clouds were again created with Armstrong’s custom-curved MetalWorks Torsion Spring panels averaging 8 feet by 23 feet, 6 inches in size. Narrow linear lighting was installed on the same plane as the panels, and each cloud is framed by coordinating 6-inch perimeter trim to create a seamless visual.

In both areas, the MetalWorks Torsion Spring panels are perforated and backed with both acoustical fleece and an acoustical infill panel, which provide a Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) of 0.90. Additionally, the metal panels in both installations are accessible to allow maintenance and repair of the mechanicals in the plenum.

Although the original concept called for the ceiling panels to be made from wood, the space’s acoustical requirements made aluminum panels with a high-quality, wood-look finish a more viable option. “The advantage with metal is that you can get much better acoustical performance with smaller perforations, which makes for a more attractive visual,” explains Gregg Hunter, regional sales manager with Armstrong Ceiling Solutions, who worked with Guest on the project. “To get the same level of acoustical control with wood, the perforations would have to be much larger, which would be very unattractive at that ceiling height.”

Pleased with the result, the design team noted that the ceiling clouds add volume and height to the space. “They have acoustical value, they are accessible, and they work with the contemporary aesthetic of the design for the new space,” Guest says.

Alston & Bird LLP, Atlanta
Award: Silver in the Ceilings category, South Region, in the 2015 Ceilings and Interior Systems Construction Association (CISCA) Construction Excellence Awards
Interior design: Carson Guest Interior Design, Atlanta, www.carsonguest.com[4]
Metal ceiling panels: Armstrong Ceiling Solutions, Lancaster, Pa., www.armstrongceilings.com[5]

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/a-21st-century-law-office/

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