May 5, 2023

SUSPENDED CEILING WASHINGTON

Photo by Steve Tolliver

Many of the convention center’s spaces have modular baffle ceilings.

Seattle Convention Center Addition

Location: Seattle

Contractor: Heartland Acoustics & Interiors

Architect: LMN Architects

Team: Northwest Carpenters Union; GTS Interior Supply; L&W Supply; Valhalla Construction Products; Armstrong World Industries; CertainTeed Gypsum;

F-Sorb; Hilti; Plexxis Software; USG Building Systems

The Seattle Convention Center Addition, known as Summit, added over 500,000 square feet of usable space. Boasting 62 meeting rooms, a massive ballroom, and plenty of exhibition space with an excess of mixing areas, this building has a multitude of uniquely finished spaces to meet the needs of many different types of gatherings.

Full walls of windows from the ground floor to the top of the structure are used to project the high-end interior finishes to anyone viewing the building from outside. What one sees from the outside is what is found throughout the building — a perfect integration of functionality and aesthetic considerations. Summit is among the most extravagantly finished buildings in Seattle and will surely become an iconic landmark for the city.

Heartland Acoustics & Interiors’ scope consisted of 180,000 square feet of metal ceilings, wood grille ceilings and walls, and felt ceilings. The project was unique in both its customized materials and the sheer scope. Everything on this project was designed on a larger scale than typically seen.

The flex halls on the first floor used custom silver satin Ceilings Plus metal panels that match the exterior panels found all around the building to produce continuity between outside and inside. More Ceilings Plus metal panels were used around the ballroom on the 10th floor, though these have a shiny black finish and a wavy texture. One can see the reflection of the floor on the ceiling as if it were a reflection on a lake at nighttime.

Adjacent to the black metal panels are a custom wood ceiling and an Arktura SoftGrid ceiling that is found throughout the eighth, ninth and 10th floors. This baffle ceiling is modular by design with 30 different custom modular types that were created to fit the specific sizes of the spaces. Modules are hung on custom USG 360 white grid that has had all unnecessary slot punches and convenience holes eliminated to give it a clean look. There is 100,000 square feet of this ceiling, which is awe-inspiring both in scope and at the intricacies of the design.

As the Arktura ceiling welcomes visitors to the floor, the Norton wood-grille ceilings and walls greet visitors to the meeting rooms on levels eight and nine. Here the wood-grille ceilings turn and extend upward on the wall just outside the entryway. Rockfon cinema black was used behind the wood for concealed sound absorption.

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