Blog - Page 25 of 29 - Carroll Seating Company

Published: 19 July 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

No comments

Categories: Locker Solutions

Law enforcement and fire fighters often have special needs when it comes to gear and personal storage. While the average locker might work in a school setting or even a local gym, inside the station, there are customized storage needs that an off-the-shelf solution just can’t meet.

The Concerns Involved

Police and fire lockers need special consideration for a number of reasons. One of the most important is the fact that versatility is a must in the world of emergencies. There’s not only the bulk of clothing and equipment to consider, but also the specialized equipment they’re required to carry and store when not on duty or responding to a call. Only lockers with the right storage choices, added compartments, and appropriate security features will work in this setting.

Durability is a must as well. Lockers for police and fire fighters are certain to take a beating day after day. With so much to do and so much access needed to gear and equipment, lockers will undoubtedly need to be constructed from materials that are tough enough to stand up to the ongoing abused of gear being yanked out and tossed back in.

Size should also be considered. These days, gear is bulkier than ever, and extra large locker choices are nothing short of required. With options as big as 84 inches in height and widths as much as 24 inches, coming up with a locker big enough should not be a problem, as long as you go with the right provider.

Carroll Seating Company has long been in the business of serving the needs of police officers and fire fighters across the country. With a solid selection of versatile, durable lockers that meet the size needs of emergency personnel everywhere, they’re the only place to turn.

Published: 16 July 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

No comments

Categories: Locker Solutions

Just the term “Athletic Lockers” probably brings to mind those horrific colors, awful smells, and metal clanging noises. Lockers, though, don’t have to follow that same pattern any longer. There are lots of different ways to change things a bit to make them look and feel amazing for anyone who walks into the locker room.

Wood Lockers – While these are nothing short of a luxury in some cases, they just work well in many athletic locker rooms. For example, if you’re designing a high end golf resort, wood lockers are going to be an absolute must. While wood can be pricier, there are choices that fit into the budgets of many available, so don’t skip over it just because you think you may not be able to afford it. Make certain that you at least take a look at what’s out there.

Laminate Finishes – Like the look of wood, but you just can’t work it into your budget? A laminate finish might be the right way to go. They offer the same look of wood without the added cost. What’s more, though, is that they can often be more durable than you might imagine.

Plastic Resin – This is a fairly new material that is strong, resistant to scratches, and very versatile. It, too, can come in a wood-look finish, but it also comes in a number of different colors, too. It’s very easy to maintain, and while it’s a bit pricier than plastic laminate, it also comes with a much longer lifespan.

Hybrid Lockers – Many manufacturers today offer lockers made from a hybrid of materials. For example, you can get a body construction made from sheet steel with a door designed from wood, giving you the best of both worlds. If you’re on a tight budget, but you want something that looks a little more professional, this may be the way to go.

Athletic lockers don’t have to bring back memories of gym class. Instead, they can have an amazing sense of style anyone who walks into the locker room is certain to appreciate.

Published: 11 July 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

No comments

Categories: Seating Solutions

There was a time when designing a lecture hall meant simply finding enough seats to fit in the room so students could passively listen to the professor, take notes, and occasionally look up at a visual aid. That time is long since gone thanks to today’s diverse learning and teaching styles. Designing the perfect lecture hall seating today takes some intuition and thought. Here are a few tips that might be helpful.

Keep the Classroom Style in Mind. You could go with a traditional classroom style, with the instructor at the front of the room and rows of seating moving back from that. You could also go with a banquet round style if you want students to interact with each other more than they focus on the presenter at the front. Another option is to go with theatre style seating, but like classroom style, you’re not going to get much interaction between presenters and students. The key here is to think about how much interaction is needed. In a lab-style class, it’s probably quite a bit. In a more traditional lecture presentation, the chances are good that it’s not much. Options like swivel or moveable seating can help out in this arena too.

Check the Fire Regulations. Your local fire regulations will tell you how many people you can place in each row as well as how many rows can go in each section, so take a look at that even before you contact your local seating company. In most cases, this number is around 20 people per row.

Think About Entrances and Exits. People are going to come and go from the lecture hall late. It’s just one of those things that happens. What’s more, though, is that it can be a real interrupter at times. If you make certain your seating is set up so the entrances and exits are near the back of your seating area, or at least off to the side, someone can slip in almost unnoticed without a problem.

Don’t Forget Obstructions. Support posts, speaker mounts, and more can create real obstructions for students in the room. Factor that in as you design the perfect seating.

Great lecture hall seating isn’t too difficult to achieve. Just make sure you factor in all of the aspects before you select seating that works for you.

Published: 9 July 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

No comments

Categories: Bleacher seating

Is there anything worse than the idea that you might have to eat in the school cafeteria? It’s a dreaded thought, but today’s school cafeterias aren’t the long, hard bench seats of yesterday. These days you can find pub tables, coffee stations, even bean bag chairs in the cafeteria, making it one of the coolest places to be. Wondering how to inject that same feel of safety, calm, and fun into your school’s cafeteria? Here are a few more tips that can help.

Use Every Inch of Space: The space is already there, so why not use it? If there’s a spot where an automated drink station might fit, add it in. Have a space next to a booth for coat hook? Go ahead and add those too. Make certain your design makes use of all of the space available to you.
Balance Durability with Style: Administrators often look toward durability over everything else, and while durability means cost effectiveness, it can also mean discarding style. Don’t do that to your students. As you choose seating, flooring, and more, find the perfect balance between the two. You clearly don’t want to replace everything in two years, but you do want to find something that doesn’t feel quite so industrial.
Get Creative: Looking for some real insight into perfection? Ask your students. Consider a design contest where the winner gets to participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony. You could even provide your math and art teachers with a curriculum where students can learn something while considering the layout of the new cafeteria. Students know what they want, but they don’t always know what’s possible. Look to them for a bit of structured guidance, and you may uncover ideas you’d never considered.

The school cafeteria can be a great place to get together, chat with friends, and reconnect, given the right surroundings.

Published: 2 July 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

No comments

Categories: Seating Solutions

Libraries have special design concerns few other facilities have. Not only must there be the right storage space for books and materials, but you also have to consider the needs of the patrons and the librarians as well. Balancing all of it, whether you’re planning for a new library or renovating an older one, can be difficult, but here are a few tips that may help.

Include Enough Seating Space: If you’re designing a public library, you need to go with at least five seats for every 1,000 people within the service area. If you’re talking about a school library, that number will rely on class sizes. Keep in mind that those numbers shouldn’t include the seating you have in meeting rooms.
Don’t Forget About ADA Accessibility: Seating options, meeting rooms, bathrooms, and even your computer workstations must be wheelchair accessible. You may also want to have other accommodations like computer stations designed for the visually impaired and more so you can serve the needs of your entire population.
Electronic Workstations Play Into Design: Don’t forget that you’re going to need plenty of computer workstations throughout your library. Whether to meet online research needs or card catalog demands, electronic workstations should be readily available to all of your patrons.
Consider the Purpose: Nearly every library in the country has a core of patrons with a different purpose. For example, perhaps it’s research at your library. Maybe it’s current topics and titles. The purpose difference means everything to the design of your library. If you’re talking about research, you’ll want lots of table space, as patrons will not only spread out a bit, but they’ll be spending long hours there, too. If it’s the best seller crowd, create a warm, inviting atmosphere. Go for fewer, yet more comfortable seats, maybe even a fireplace, and good lighting.
Don’t Forget about the Staff: If you’re redesigning or building new, offer the staff a few perks, too. There are lots of great features you can build into the new design that may prove useful. Factor in your volunteer staff, or those temporary staff members you add during the busy season, to this equation too. You may even want to add in dedicated kitchen or break area seating just for your staff members. It may be a nice perk to which they hadn’t previously had access.

Designing the ideal library can be complicated, but there are lots of ways to create a fantastic look that patrons will love.

Published: 25 June 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

No comments

Categories: Seating Solutions

Does the idea of walking into your office cafeteria bring up horrific memories of that first 7th grade lunch period? An office cafeteria should have a very different feel than your middle school experiences, and careful design can help ensure that’s the case. Not sure how to make certain that your new office lunch room seating does nott turn into 7th grade all over again? These tips can help.

Go with a Restaurant Feel. While family style eating might be appropriate if you have more than one cafeteria in your building, it’s not the best option if you just have one place to eat. Instead, you want your employees to feel comfortable, and restaurant style eating is a good way to do just that. Add some booths in there. Go with some pub style tables. Vary the seating a bit, and your employees won’t feel quite like they’re headed back to school.
Consider Capacity. You certainly want to make sure you have enough space in your cafeteria area, so don’t forget to think carefully about how many people you can seat. If no one can ever get a seat in the cafeteria, they’re certainly not going to plan to eat there on a regular basis. Don’t let these calculations terrify you into going with communal tables. There are many different seating options that still give you the café style you want without resorting to long tables with bench seats.
Consider Other Design Features. Seating is a big part of any cafeteria, but there are other design aspects you may want to factor in as well. Think about your choice of artwork, flooring, and even accessories like drink stations and pay stations, as they can affect the flow and feel of your space as well.

The office cafeteria can be just as hip as you want it to be. Don’t forget to factor the right seating choices into your redesign, and you’ll be on your way to creating a Google-esque feel for your employees.

Published: 18 June 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

No comments

Categories: Seating Solutions

Athletic lockers are a no brainer, right? You simply need a bit of ventilation, storage for your team’s gear, and a place to stash their stuff while they’re on the field, right? Wrong. The locker room should be a point of pride for your team. Designing the perfect facility can make all the difference in the world to team spirit and that winning attitude that really matters the second they leave. Here are a few things to consider.

The Sport – All athletic lockers were not created equally. What may work out perfectly for a soccer player may not be ideal for a football player. Unfortunately, most teams are limited by budgetary concerns, so many locker rooms have to play double, triple, or even quadruple duty throughout the year. As the seasons change, so do the dominant sports, and that may mean a different purpose for the lockers for every season. If that’s the case in your facility, you want to go with lockers that are big enough to house gear for each sport. In most cases, football will probably be the sport that requires the most gear. To ensure your football players have enough space for their helmets and their pads, you need a 72” tall locker that is both 15” deep and wide. The shelf has to be about 18” from the top to house a full-sized helmet. Players are only going to get frustrated if they can’t fit all of their gear into their lockers as they walk off the field or court, so make certain they have a bit of room to breathe.

The Number of Players – In addition to having enough space for their gear, you want to have enough space for all of the players. The standard size football team is forty players. For soccer, it’s twenty-five. A track team can have as many as fifty members, depending on the size of the school. The same is true for a swim team. Every player needs to have a locker to house his or her gear, and if this means a few lockers happen to go empty for this season or that one, write it off as an expense of the game. Giving each player his own space is key to building the ideal team.

Security – The last thing you want is for players to feel like their stuff is unsafe between games or meets. If you’re sharing lockers from sport to sport, make sure you offer individual padlocks for players or team members. Built in locks typically come with just a few possible combination, making them quite unsafe from sport to sport.

Color Choices – Feel free to get a bit creative with your locker room. Go with your school colors instead of a drab gray or dull green. You want to create a bright environment where players can truly feel the team spirit enthrall them before every possible match or game.

Good locker room design does not have to be limited by budget. With just a few simple considerations, you can build a locker room that is perfect for your team.

Published: 11 June 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

No comments

Categories: Seating Solutions

Few people have fond memories when they think of the school cafeteria. From nightmares over the interesting food to the forced seating arrangements on those uncomfortable picnic table style seats, looking back on the school cafeteria isn’t always a pleasant experience. Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be the case any longer. It’s completely possible to build a café feel into your school cafeteria, creating a comfortable, fun, relaxing environment that is the perfect mid-day break for students.

Consider a Variety of Seating Options: Go with a nice mix of booths, round tables, square tables, pub style tables, and more to help students feel more like they’re out and about than stuck at school. It will help bring students together, and it may even help some make new bonds that will hold throughout the school day. What’s more, though, is that it can actually make your cafeteria more versatile to students and staff alike.

Add Artwork: You may choose the best seating arrangement in the world, but if it looks institutional, it’s still going to feel that way. Get some customized artwork in there. One decal of your school mascot isn’t going to do it either. Go for a complete change of pace. For example, if you’re the Barracudas, why not create a marine environment for your school cafeteria? It sets a great mood that could help students relax.

Think About Flooring: You could go with that standard school tile, but why not go with a black and white alternating pattern that makes it look like a fifties malt shop? Why not add wood laminate floors to create a distinct coffee shop feel? Your flooring can enhance the overall look of your cafeteria, and with today’s choices, you can find something that is just as easy to care for and still looks great.

Other Great Options: Have you considered adding a mobile ice cream cart? What about a hands free coffee station for students or staff members? There are all kinds of different ways to inject that café feel to your dining room, and adding some of these unique options can do that for you.

Ask your Carroll Seating Company project manager what school cafeteria seating choices may be available.

Published: 4 June 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

No comments

Categories: Seating Solutions

In many situations, a solid lecture hall is a must. From educational institutions like schools and universities to large company campuses across the nation, lecture halls are critical. The best lecture halls, though, have unique seating choices that meet both the needs of those listening as well as the speakers themselves. Before you simply go with the first lecture hall seating provider listed in a directory, it’s best to carefully consider every aspect of your seating needs.

Tiers – Within most lecture halls, tiers are quite common to allow everyone in the room to have a good view of the instructor as well as the front of the room. One key aspect of choosing the best lecture hall seating style to meet your needs is the number of rows per tier you wish to include. Talk to your designer to see what might fit best within your space.

Seating Styles – There are actually a variety of different seating styles available in the world of lecture hall seating, no matter how many rows per tier you want. Perhaps most traditional is fixed style seating. There are many options here, though. If space is tight, you may want to go with something that allows for maximum comfort while playing to your space needs. You could also go with swivel style seating to allow listeners to interact with those behind them. Portable seating is another option. Folding chairs, stacking chairs, stools and more are all options in a lecture hall. Each, however, tends to work best in conjunction with fixed tables.

Other Options to Consider – Lecture halls are changing these days, and there are so many different options to consider when you think about seating. Don’t forget to factor in ideas like whether you need modesty panels, space for instructors to move about the room, and even space for laptops, coats, bags, and the like.

As you design the ideal seating to meet your needs in a lecture hall, don’t forget to include concerns like handicapped seating options to help you remain ADA compliant. Talk with your project manager about your space, your goals, and your needs to come up with the best possible solution.

Published: 28 May 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

No comments

Categories: Seating Solutions

These days, no two locker rooms are alike. Whether you’re in a high-end club setting or middle school, athletic locker rooms are changing fast, and with them, the types of lockers available to those who need them. Wondering which lockers might best meet your needs? Take these factors into account first.

Space Concerns: One of the first things you want to consider is how much space you have. In some cases, your space for the locker room will be quite limited, and that can not only affect where you put the lockers, but also the size and type of lockers you choose to use. Keep in mind that you’ll want to create a solid traffic flow around the lockers as well as a sense of privacy for those using the lockers to change, so be careful as you begin to think about where you may want to place your lockers.

Locker Size: There are three basic locker sizes: mini, half, and standard. Mini lockers are perfect for keys, a folded set of clothes, and maybe a set of court shoes, but not much else. Half lockers give you slightly better sizing, but they’re still small enough to wrinkle the bottom of a man’s shirt. Standard sized lockers are perfect for that suit, but they also typically mean a lot of wasted space. Carefully consider the facility and the needs of its patrons. High school kids may only need half lockers, but those in a commercial gym facility may need mixed sizes.

Locker Materials: Athletic lockers hardly have to be the standard metal ventilated type these days. You can go with stadium style lockers, open front lockers for gear, or even lockers with a wood laminate paneling look to enhance your dressing rooms. Depending on exactly who your facility serves, you may want to go with something that reflects your wants and needs.

There are a number of factors to consider as you plan the ideal athletic locker room. Your best bet is to chat with a project manager before you make any final decisions.