Designer Diaries: New Elementary School

I'm back with another installment in my Designer Diary Series.  This time it's to share a little bit about an elementary school I designed that is currently nearing completion.

In the early stages of the design process, I sometimes start with just a palette board.  I make up several paint palettes along with inspiration photos for the client to look over.  It's a nice way of getting them to chose a direction for their building, without overwhelming them with lots of design decisions all at once.


Here is the board they choose:

 { I've cropped off the titleblock @ the bottom of the board, that's why it looks a little funny }


At the next design meeting I came back with options for the finishes.  This is what they choose:

The image below shows a small portion of the school.  This is the floor pattern they chose for the corridors:

And here is a photo of the flooring being installed:

I know the quality of these photos isn't the best - this job is out of state so I haven't been able to visit the site to take photos.


The flooring is linoleum by Forbo.  Linoleum gets a bad rap because most people refer to sheet vinyl as linoleum.  Huge, huge difference - not at all the same thing!  Real linoleum has been around long before sheet vinyl and is manufactured of natural ingredients (linseed oil, resins, natural pigments, and jute backing).  Linoleum is definitely making a comeback and is once again popular.  This building will be LEED certified, so linoleum was the perfect choice for many reasons.  I've also specified Armstrong linoleum - both are great manufacturers.


This is the floor pattern they selected for the cafeteria:

Tile behind the drinking fountains:

I know, I'm sure this isn't exciting to you, but I just love seeing anything that I designed!  I wish I had more photos of the building to share.  So far, this is all I have!

These are a few of the fabrics I used on furniture throughout the building.  The top one is from Arc Com and the middle and bottom one are both from Momentum.  All three are Crypton - a high performance upholstery.

I just love this one:

And this one too:

This is a very small portion of the complete design.  Most people think that interior design is chosing colors and selecting patterns.  In reality, it is just a VERY small portion of the process.

Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!