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Celebrating City Centre
The remodeling of a 60-year-old office building into what is now City Centre in Watertown, Wis., involved much more than repainting the walls and calling it a day. That was to be expected, given that the building is home to Bedford Falls Communications, which publishes Surface & Panel. As he did with his residential research project, the mHouse, Publisher John Aufderhaar demonstrated his commitment to panel processing by using many of the industry’s most innovative materials throughout the building. The images on this and ensuing pages show the extent of the remodeling and many of the materials that make City Centre another showplace for the utility, versatility and beauty of panel processed products.
Top: Lightweight panel was used in this RTA office system along with a textured decorative finished foil in the 120-gram range.
Left: Resin panels from Decotone Surfaces were selected as side lights in multiple offices to lessen the feeling of seclusion and to add interest, color and natural light.
Left: Six of the office systems were custom designed and produced by Quest Engineering of Richfield, Wis. This edge detail shows the 3-inch waterfall horizontal work surface. The surface material is Wilsonart Asian Sand high pressure laminate (HPL).
Helmut Ajango designed the original office building in 1956. Ajango received an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Architect of the Year award in the mid-1960s. To make room for more common space and construction of ADA-compliant restrooms, the interior was gutted to the studs. A conference room, kitchen, lounge and campus area were constructed to serve the needs of multiple tenants. Today, 40 percent of the 4,500-square-foot building is common area.
(demolition image)
Above: Decotone’s decorative resin panels are visible in floor-to-ceiling applications in both the conference room and an office (distance). The flooring is Metroflor’s Aspecta commercial brand of luxury vinyl tile (LVT) in 12”-x-24” planks. Aspecta was used throughout the common space and was selected for its durability and ease of maintenance. Baseboard molding and door trim are made from Roseburg’s Sustainable Design Fiberboard (SDF) Medex brand. Water resistance was an important factor and is a hallmark of Medex. All molding and trim was produced by Setzer Forest Products of Sacramento, Calif.
( left) Cabinet doors in the kitchen and coffee service area are clad in high-gloss vinyl in a playful mustard color. Cabinet hardware is Blum’s Aventos lift system for all upper doors and TANDEM plus BLUMOTION concealed runners for all lower drawers. Counters are Wilsonart Solid Surface.
(right) These horizontal file storage units are produced from Wilsonart’s Asian Night TFL from the Coordinated Surfaces program. The base is clad in Wilsonart’s decorative metal in the Bright Brushed Natural Aluminum design.
(left): The tall cabinet doors and work surface in the conference room are produced in Contour White with the Medina texture from Arauco’s Prism TFL collection.
(below): Quest Engineering’s custom-designed office system is modular and made to accommodate any office size. The main work surface features a 3-inch waterfall top made from Wilsonart’s Asian Sand HPL. The lower work area and storage are Wilsonart’s Asian Night TFL. Blum hinges and BLUMOTION undermount drawer runners were used throughout the project.
(left) The drawer fronts in the central storage area in the conference room are made from KML Designer Finishes Tenino Wenge pattern from its Edgewood collection, contrasting nicely with Arauco’s Contour White.
City Centre’s main conference room features a 12-foot conference table laminated in HPL. Storage units and a media center line the back wall. An 8-foot dry-erase marker board produced by Panel Processing is featured on the left side.
Panel Processing produces a range of dry-erase marker boards in various colors and patterns. A black-coated 4-foot marker board is a key element in one City Centre office. A marker board in a maple design adds sophistication to another office.
This elevated image of the Quest Engineering-designed office system reveals the contrast between the selected surfaces: Asian Sand (HPL) for the work surface and Asian Night (TFL) for the cabinetry.
