For the past few months, many of us have returning to work in the office, whether as part of a team who needs to work collaboratively and safely together in person, or those who find the office a better space for working than at home. New dividers have been built by our fabrication team, mostly simple plexiglass partitions. But the one that shields our reception area from the main entry hall is a work of art. Liz Cooney and Nicoletta Kyverniti share their work.
During this transition into the new pandemic work environment, Women in Design collaborated with Payette’s FabLAB to address both equity in design and safety of space.
We repurposed an acoustical design panel to serve as a barrier between our reception desk and the corridor, enabling an efficient installation. The simple and effective approach helped create a COVID-friendly environment. With the high traffic of the corridor, it was key to use a tangible and opaque physical partition to ensure the health and safety of our colleagues.
Liz and I participated in changing the aesthetic of the acoustic panel by painting the carved form a vivid green color tone, with white highlights of the protruding sections. This infused our office with ambiance and energy. The experience was truly enjoyable and an excellent kick off to our inclusive fabrication initiative!
Northeastern EXP features an organic pinwheel design, shaping research and classroom neighborhoods with shared community spaces radiating from the core to define each area. The building façade was tuned to achieve a 78% reduction in peak solar heat gain and a 62% reduction in cumulative solar radiation leading to energy use reductions and reduced mechanical system sizing. The use of stainless steel further leads to an embodied carbon reduction of almost one million tons when compared to aluminum while the natural stainless surface reflects light in a natural and warm tone giving the building an inherent energy.
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