Seating Solutions Archives - Page 5 of 7

Published: 4 June 2013

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In many situations, a solid lecture hall is a must. From educational institutions like schools and universities to large company campuses across the nation, lecture halls are critical. The best lecture halls, though, have unique seating choices that meet both the needs of those listening as well as the speakers themselves. Before you simply go with the first lecture hall seating provider listed in a directory, it’s best to carefully consider every aspect of your seating needs.

Tiers – Within most lecture halls, tiers are quite common to allow everyone in the room to have a good view of the instructor as well as the front of the room. One key aspect of choosing the best lecture hall seating style to meet your needs is the number of rows per tier you wish to include. Talk to your designer to see what might fit best within your space.

Seating Styles – There are actually a variety of different seating styles available in the world of lecture hall seating, no matter how many rows per tier you want. Perhaps most traditional is fixed style seating. There are many options here, though. If space is tight, you may want to go with something that allows for maximum comfort while playing to your space needs. You could also go with swivel style seating to allow listeners to interact with those behind them. Portable seating is another option. Folding chairs, stacking chairs, stools and more are all options in a lecture hall. Each, however, tends to work best in conjunction with fixed tables.

Other Options to Consider – Lecture halls are changing these days, and there are so many different options to consider when you think about seating. Don’t forget to factor in ideas like whether you need modesty panels, space for instructors to move about the room, and even space for laptops, coats, bags, and the like.

As you design the ideal seating to meet your needs in a lecture hall, don’t forget to include concerns like handicapped seating options to help you remain ADA compliant. Talk with your project manager about your space, your goals, and your needs to come up with the best possible solution.

Published: 28 May 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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These days, no two locker rooms are alike. Whether you’re in a high-end club setting or middle school, athletic locker rooms are changing fast, and with them, the types of lockers available to those who need them. Wondering which lockers might best meet your needs? Take these factors into account first.

Space Concerns: One of the first things you want to consider is how much space you have. In some cases, your space for the locker room will be quite limited, and that can not only affect where you put the lockers, but also the size and type of lockers you choose to use. Keep in mind that you’ll want to create a solid traffic flow around the lockers as well as a sense of privacy for those using the lockers to change, so be careful as you begin to think about where you may want to place your lockers.

Locker Size: There are three basic locker sizes: mini, half, and standard. Mini lockers are perfect for keys, a folded set of clothes, and maybe a set of court shoes, but not much else. Half lockers give you slightly better sizing, but they’re still small enough to wrinkle the bottom of a man’s shirt. Standard sized lockers are perfect for that suit, but they also typically mean a lot of wasted space. Carefully consider the facility and the needs of its patrons. High school kids may only need half lockers, but those in a commercial gym facility may need mixed sizes.

Locker Materials: Athletic lockers hardly have to be the standard metal ventilated type these days. You can go with stadium style lockers, open front lockers for gear, or even lockers with a wood laminate paneling look to enhance your dressing rooms. Depending on exactly who your facility serves, you may want to go with something that reflects your wants and needs.

There are a number of factors to consider as you plan the ideal athletic locker room. Your best bet is to chat with a project manager before you make any final decisions.

Published: 24 May 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Wondering how to keep students coming through those library doors? In a world that’s more connected than ever, it seems libraries are finding themselves outdated. Fortunately, you can still grab their attention, but it’s going to take some serious design planning.

Start with Beauty – Who says those perfect design magazine settings have to stay inside the world of residential settings? Create a cool environment, and students will want to be there day after day. The key, though, is to balance the educational needs of students with the awesome factor in design. You want to have an amazing design that attracts students, but you need it to be functional as well.

Sprinkle in Flexibility – You may have students who want to lounge before school, but during second period, you may have the entire biology one section waiting to hear from a special presenter. Traditional library furniture can’t possibly serve both needs, so get creative with your designs. Go with innovative seating and presentation areas to make the most of both spaces.

Don’t Forget The Electronics – Tablets aren’t going anywhere soon. Neither are smartboards, desktops, laptops, and ebooks. Don’t sell your library short by not including both a power supply and the right hookups for devices. Similarly, think about your lighting arrangement, too. It can be tough to see a smartboard presentation with sunlight streaming through those gorgeous windows, so manage things carefully from the outset.

Libraries can be cool, functional spaces, but it takes quite a bit of planning to get them there. Fortunately, Carroll Seating can help. With turnkey solutions available for school, public, and private libraries alike, here you’ll always find the planning and follow-through necessary to create that perfect space.

Published: 21 May 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Good casework is an essential part of any lab. Before you make choices on how to outfit your new lab, though, it’s essential that you carefully consider your options. After all, the last thing you want is to end up unhappy with your new fixtures.

Your Layout
The first set of choices you’ll need to make deal with layout. This will depend extensively not only on your layout, but also on your budget as well. While much of the laboratory casework world relies on made to order furniture, you can also choose modular pieces from various companies that can be rearranged to meet the changing needs of your lab. These modular pieces are sometimes cheaper than the made to order option. You may want to talk with your casework company’s project manager to make the decision that best fits your needs.

Many Materials
The other key decision you have to make as you select the right casework to meet your needs lies in materials. Wood casework is one of the most popular choices. It can be made from a number of different types of wood, and the doors are usually custom-designed. Plastic laminate is getting more popular thanks to its inexpensive nature. You often find this in school settings.

Metal casework is also an option, and it can even be painted to suit your needs. Steel is another solid choice, and it’s easy to clean. It can also deal with the chemicals you may be using the lab. Looking for another choice that will handle frequently cleaning? Stainless steel is a reliable choice. Phenolic resin is too, as it is corrosion and fire resistant.

You’ve already come up with an innovative design to enhance your lab. Choose the ideal casework to meet your ongoing needs.

Published: 14 May 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are expanding on almost a daily basis, and with good reason. While people certainly aren’t any sicker than they were decades ago, they’re far more likely to seek medical care today. From great prevention to better treatment all the way around, people visit doctor’s offices and hospitals in record numbers these days.

The University of Missouri health system is no exception to that rule. Just like many other care facilities, the number of patients they see on a daily basis is ever expanding, and so too is their need for state of the art facilities. We were excited to help when they called us about their new patient care tower.

The Project
The new care tower itself is seven full stories. Inside are additional operating rooms as well as procedure rooms. There are also private patient rooms and lots of new space for the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. The goal throughout the building was to offer a level of comfort that helped visitors feel at ease and patients begin to heal. The space even includes an outdoor garden and a boutique in the Cancer Center with items like wigs for chemotherapy patients.

We were asked to provide custom millwork solutions on all seven floors. We also provided the casework throughout as well as solutions for solid surfaces, wall paneling, and countertops throughout the building. Throughout this project, we wanted to infuse the same healing theme that was already working throughout the building. That said, though, we knew that our work had to be as practical as it did beautiful.

The results were nothing short of phenomenal. We managed to strike that perfect balance with this project, and the initial feedback on this has been wonderful.

Published: 10 May 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Each year, thousands of people are injured while on bleachers at a variety of different kinds of facilities. In some cases, it’s purely negligence on the part of the individual. In many other cases, though, the problem could have been prevented through solid bleacher inspection and maintenance. Most states have gone so far as to require yearly inspection for bleachers. Wondering what that entails?

Here’s a quick overview:

You should make certain that the bleachers aren’t unstable in any possible way. For example, they shouldn’t be leaning to one side, and they should be placed on level ground. Moreover, while walking on them, they should feel completely stable.
You should also make sure the structural support of the bleachers is solid. There shouldn’t be any signs of corrosion or rotting. All of the cross braces should be in good working order. None of them should come out past the bench seat edges. None of the welds should be cracked either.
Bleachers should have handrails in place, and if there aren’t any, warnings should be posted.

There are often other guidelines from state to state, and understanding those is your responsibility. For example, in many states, a simple safety inspection by your staff isn’t enough. In most cases, you’ll need a certified technician to look things over and file a report. Depending on the company from whom you bought the bleachers, some yearly inspections are required to keep your warranty in check, too.

Preventative Maintenance
Whether your annual check reveals a problem or not, you may still have a bit of work to do. Proper upkeep of your floorboards, stairs and walkways is a must. It can help reduce any falls from patrons. They need to be cleaned regularly as well. Handrails, if present, need to be tightened, and supports should be lubricated with all other moving parts.

Keep in mind that if you allow food onto the bleachers, it can get into the mechanisms and create real issues, so keep a close eye out for potential problems with food. There are ways to clean them well, but it’s a bit harder, so custodial staff should be part of the maintenance plan. The real key with preventative maintenance is not only to make certain issues are addressed as soon as they’re realized, but also to follow the manufacturer’s instructions with regard to the right maintenance procedures.

Bleachers are one of the biggest problems for many facilities because, while they do provide useful seating, they can also be hard to maintain. Contact a certified bleacher technician to make sure your bleachers are safe from year to year.

Published: 30 April 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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School cafeterias are unique places these days. You have to ensure a solid traffic flow so students can get through the serving area in time to eat, but you also want to make it an inviting place for every student. The standard industrial look just doesn’t do it these days. Our work with Plaza Middle School was an excellent proving ground for us. After all, there are no tougher critics than twelve and thirteen year old kids.

What We Did
We were asked to come in and provide every inch of the design work. For us, this meant creating a cafeteria seating layout that worked for students and staff, coordinating existing food service equipment into a layout that breathed efficiency, and looking at things from a “that’s cool” standpoint so students would really love the new lunchroom.

On that front, we created a custom laminated focal wall behind the service line itself, came up with an amazing railing system for the kids to line up at, developed custom logo graphic tables, and added durable custom artwork pieces throughout. The crowning jewel, though, was the eye catching school logo’s Tiger Eyes soffit that is actually backlit to make the eyes pop out at students.

The Results
Students and staff alike love the new space. It’s an environment students actually want to be a part of. We managed to combine their mascot and important themes to the school to help amp up student pride a bit, and because we used school colors throughout, it helped to personalize the space.

The lunch hour is one of the only times each day students can easily interact with friends, and that’s an essential life skill too, so we created intimate small group sections and booth seating for students to help invite students in. The booths and clustered seating area give it that fast-food feel students are so accustomed to, and we managed to meet all of the ADA seating guidelines in the process of our design work.

Middle school kids are tough critics, so we were nothing short of surprised at all of the positive feedback we got with this project. Now if our own kids would only think we were that cool.

Published: 25 March 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Whether you stop by a local fast food joint or you’re having a seat at that hip little bistro down the street, you may see more communal tables than you ever have before. Not familiar with the concept? They usually seat up to sixteen people, and the benefits can be enormous. In a world where online communities are quickly becoming everything, promoting actual communities through seating like this is certainly not a bad idea. It can help regulars sitting near each other get to know one another by passing the salt and pepper shaker, and it may help them feel more at home. It can also keep people in the area longer than you’d imagined, which may mean additional profits.

Thinking about going this route with your food court seating? You may want to consider the following:

Make certain the table works with the dining space itself. If you’re doing a retrofit, you need to carefully consider traffic flow and the actual spacing. Communal seating means larger tables than normal, so think carefully about layout before you go with communal tables.
Think about your customers. Communal tables don’t work well in every setting. Big tables may mean louder conversations, particularly in the food court setting. That may even be disruptive to others, so consider customers before you make your choice.
Table height matters. You can get community tables in both the high topped variety and the more standard size, and finding the right one to meet your needs may take a customer survey. In most cases, something standard will work best, but a bar-height can also work well.
Don’t forget about lighting. This is a big concern in the case of retrofitting an area with communal tables. You’ll need fairly specific lighting for the table you choose. If you don’t make that consideration, you could certainly end up leaving it in a light void. Communal tables can work in a food court seating area, but make certain you carefully consider them before you install them.

Communal tables can work in a food court seating area, but make certain you carefully consider them before you install them.

Published: 5 March 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Whether you’re talking about a local community center, a high school, or one of the best universities in the nation, gymnasium seating can be nothing short of difficult to purchase. The seating is easily one of the most important products you’ll purchase for your gym, and getting it right the first time is key to the success of your facility.

Telescoping Options

In many cases, you’ll want telescoping seating included somewhere in the plan. While you may end up with half of your facility dedicated to fixed seating options, adding some telescoping seating options to your gym can really be a help for events that are simply bigger than you’d initially planned. What’s more, though, is that since they don’t have to be present all of the time, you’ll have the flexibility you need when it comes to floor space.

There are really two main choices when it comes to telescoping seating. You can either go with bleacher style seating or platform style seats, and the differences here depend a bit upon your goals. While bleacher style seats are sure to help you pack the crowd in for every event, platform seats are likely the more comfortable of the two options. In some cases, you may want to go with a mix of both seating styles, but decisions like those have to fit into your layout and the aims of the facility. You may also want to look into flex seating options that could allow you to carefully configure seating arrangements that will better suit the needs of the various sports your gym plans to host.

As you shop for telescoping seating options, make certain you look for a solid combination of durability and reliability. It could also be important that you look into ADA compliant seating to help make some guests more comfortable and help to make sure your facility meets the code requirements.

Customization
No matter what seating option you end up with, don’t forget that with many companies, you can customize your choices to help make it unique to your gym. In many cases, you can add wireless remotes and even audio alerts to help make your seating safer and easier to operate. You can also typically add school lettering or logos that help to make your seating choices look unique.

With gymnasium seating, you don’t have to go with the first solution you find. These days, technology appears even here, and no matter what your goals, the right company can help you meet them with perfect seating.

Published: 27 February 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

With a heavy heart we announce the passing of Anita “Nita” Frazier. Taken too soon in life Nita will be remembered by all those she leaves behind. Her twenty-three years of service and dedication to Carroll Seating Company was unwavering. Detail orientated and the ability to direct, Anita wore many hats, Personal Assistant to Pat Carroll Jr, Office Manager, friend, confidant, but above all part of the Carroll family. Her undeniable love for all that crossed her path will resonate in the hearts of those she touched forever.

We are fortunate and immensely grateful to of had our time with Anita may she rest in peace knowing she was loved by so many!