Hardwood Floors October/November 2017

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Greenpointe custom oiled more than 3,000 square feet of 3/4” x 8” x 10’ long, Chateau grade white oak plank, which was then used as cladding on curved walls for sound control. Also, the company supplied several thousand additional square feet, which was installed as ooring and site nished by the contractor for an exact color match. “One of the reasons Castle Bespoke was selected for this project was the customizable aspect of the product. e client wanted the ooring sanded-in-place to create a totally smooth and at surface with no edge bevels. en they wanted the wall paneling to match the oor exactly, but this needed to be hand-oiled before it was installed,” says Brandsen. He continued, “Both from a design aspect, and also from an acoustical standpoint, we needed to pay special a ention to the thickness of the product, as well as the acoustical properties of the coatings on the material. By using a penetrating oil, we were able to achieve both the look and acoustic requirements of the project. e walls that have Castle Bespoke wall cladding are curved and angled to help the room re ect the music in a way that is both absorbing and also complimentary to the musical instruments.” By design, the rehearsal room captures a large volume (40’ x 48’ x 33’+) to prevent sound from building up to uncomfortably loud levels and to allowmusic to linger with a moderately long reverberation time. Room surfaces are shaped to sustain sound while avoiding u er (high frequency trapped between parallel surfaces) and preventing an excessive buildup of sound in the lower seven feet of the room, where the musicians and listeners will be. Some additional texturing of the walls provides more random sca ering of sound, to further so en harshness. A simple, modestly curved ceiling provides clean communication within an ensemble while preventing u ery buildup between the oor and ceiling. Berwick Hall will grant the Festival visibility on a busy street, opportunities for community events, and a centralized hub for Festival activities. More than 10,000 people are expected to visit the space during the yearly festival, not including cross-campus and community rentals. Stacy Brown is the Editor/Publisher of Hardwood Floors magazine, the official magazine of the National Wood Flooring Association. She can be reached at stacy.brown@nwfa.org.

were a ecting the wood oor industry. We saw construction schedules accelerating, meaning less time for acclimation and more dramatic swings in temperature and humidity. “We also saw the trend toward wider planks, which are historically more a ected by climatic conditions; the enhanced use of concrete and gypsum type sub oor systems, meaning you can’t nail down the product; and nally a big in ux of imsy products from the big box stores. We knew there had to be a be er way, which is how we created Castle Bespoke high-end custom ooring,” Brandsen explained. e interior white oak walls in the rehearsal room are subtly curved to re ect the form of an instrument and the composition of the exterior uses rhythmical concepts in its design. For this project,

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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