Meredith Williams - Principal, NRHS
The floor of our 9th grade design lab posed a true design challenge. For starters it was carpet - a difficult medium to keep clean in an active and creative space. Additionally, the carpet was light colored and the mix of stripes and polka dots was not very attractive. In the design charrette, teams proposed wood floors for a natural look or concrete floors that could be easily cleaned when prototyping got messy. Unfortunately, our limited budget and the 3,000 square feet of floor space restricted the flooring options considerably. It was decided that we could break up the existing carpet using a darker, more traffic-friendly color. The designers created a pathway of new carpet leading in from both doors. The dots became an “area rug” for one section of the room and the stripes became the “area rug” for the other. In this way, we could create definition and a sense of welcome to the space. Interface came to the rescue of both our budget and our aesthetic appeal by providing 160 square feet of Kimono (CE 171) carpet squares. This carpet is part of Interface’s Ceremony Collection which is not only beautiful, but through the company’s collaboration with Net-Works, these carpet squares are constructed of 100% recycled nylon made in part from reclaimed fishing nets. Next came the challenge of rearranging the existing carpet and laying the new. Without a dime for professional installers, our staff painstakingly labored during a teacher workday to pull up the old carpet tiles. Back-breaking and finger-hurting work, the removal and installation of the new carpet went far beyond the job descriptions of teachers, teacher assistants, custodians, and a carpenter. As the design of the flooring with its obvious entrance flow and dedicated work spaces came together, our design teacher remarked: “This floor is not homemade. It’s LOVE made.” So, it was that a floor can be more than simply carpet or design. Through the loving labor of the North Rowan High School staff, the generosity of Interface, and the imagination of our designers, we overcame the challenges and designed a floor: the foundation on which the entire space would be built.
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AuthorMeredith Williams is the principal at NRHS. A graduate of NRHS and an community member, Mrs. Williams is invested in the success of the NRHS student population. ArchivesCategories |