The Challenge:
To house students in a unique, new interdisciplinary curriculum, officials at Zionsville High School decided to renovate an existing 9,000-square-foot warehouse space that had no interior walls and an exposed structure.
“The design challenge became how to define areas within such a large space without building walls,” states project architect, Allen Cradler. “Using the floor was a possibility, but it was definitely the ceiling plane that offered the most opportunity.”
Another aspect of the challenge was to design an eye-catching ceiling that had a custom look but was created with standard products in order to stay within budget.
The Solution:
To attain the desired aesthetics and acoustics, the design team selected Armstrong SOUNDSCAPES Shapes acoustical clouds. Designed for use in exposed structures that need spot acoustics, the clouds can be installed as individual units or grouped together.
The clouds are offered in ten geometric shapes, which allowed Cradler to use different shapes to define different areas. Groups of convex and concave clouds are placed over student work areas, for example, while circles are featured in the entryway, and combinations of squares and rectangles highlight the pathway areas.
By the time the ceiling design was complete, Cradler utilized five different cloud shapes in 36 cloud groupings, totaling 155 individual cloud units.
“Another feature we liked was that these clouds came out of the box finished and ready to go,” Cradler says. “All we had to do is hang them. Most other cloud options consisted of multiple components. Ease of installation was a definite factor.”
Cradler notes everyone from the school district to the students is pleased with the result. “It’s very different than any other space in the school and has generated a lot of interest. Because of that, it’s hoped the look of the space will actually help attract more students to the program.”
Project: Zionsville High School
Location: Zionsville, IN
Architect: Fanning Howey, Indianapolis, IN
Products: SOUNDSCAPES Shapes