Seating Solutions Archives - Page 5 of 7

Published: 24 May 2013

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Wondering how to keep students coming through those library doors? In a world that’s more connected than ever, it seems libraries are finding themselves outdated. Fortunately, you can still grab their attention, but it’s going to take some serious design planning.

Start with Beauty – Who says those perfect design magazine settings have to stay inside the world of residential settings? Create a cool environment, and students will want to be there day after day. The key, though, is to balance the educational needs of students with the awesome factor in design. You want to have an amazing design that attracts students, but you need it to be functional as well.

Sprinkle in Flexibility – You may have students who want to lounge before school, but during second period, you may have the entire biology one section waiting to hear from a special presenter. Traditional library furniture can’t possibly serve both needs, so get creative with your designs. Go with innovative seating and presentation areas to make the most of both spaces.

Don’t Forget The Electronics – Tablets aren’t going anywhere soon. Neither are smartboards, desktops, laptops, and ebooks. Don’t sell your library short by not including both a power supply and the right hookups for devices. Similarly, think about your lighting arrangement, too. It can be tough to see a smartboard presentation with sunlight streaming through those gorgeous windows, so manage things carefully from the outset.

Libraries can be cool, functional spaces, but it takes quite a bit of planning to get them there. Fortunately, Carroll Seating can help. With turnkey solutions available for school, public, and private libraries alike, here you’ll always find the planning and follow-through necessary to create that perfect space.

Published: 21 May 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Good casework is an essential part of any lab. Before you make choices on how to outfit your new lab, though, it’s essential that you carefully consider your options. After all, the last thing you want is to end up unhappy with your new fixtures.

Your Layout
The first set of choices you’ll need to make deal with layout. This will depend extensively not only on your layout, but also on your budget as well. While much of the laboratory casework world relies on made to order furniture, you can also choose modular pieces from various companies that can be rearranged to meet the changing needs of your lab. These modular pieces are sometimes cheaper than the made to order option. You may want to talk with your casework company’s project manager to make the decision that best fits your needs.

Many Materials
The other key decision you have to make as you select the right casework to meet your needs lies in materials. Wood casework is one of the most popular choices. It can be made from a number of different types of wood, and the doors are usually custom-designed. Plastic laminate is getting more popular thanks to its inexpensive nature. You often find this in school settings.

Metal casework is also an option, and it can even be painted to suit your needs. Steel is another solid choice, and it’s easy to clean. It can also deal with the chemicals you may be using the lab. Looking for another choice that will handle frequently cleaning? Stainless steel is a reliable choice. Phenolic resin is too, as it is corrosion and fire resistant.

You’ve already come up with an innovative design to enhance your lab. Choose the ideal casework to meet your ongoing needs.

Published: 14 May 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are expanding on almost a daily basis, and with good reason. While people certainly aren’t any sicker than they were decades ago, they’re far more likely to seek medical care today. From great prevention to better treatment all the way around, people visit doctor’s offices and hospitals in record numbers these days.

The University of Missouri health system is no exception to that rule. Just like many other care facilities, the number of patients they see on a daily basis is ever expanding, and so too is their need for state of the art facilities. We were excited to help when they called us about their new patient care tower.

The Project
The new care tower itself is seven full stories. Inside are additional operating rooms as well as procedure rooms. There are also private patient rooms and lots of new space for the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. The goal throughout the building was to offer a level of comfort that helped visitors feel at ease and patients begin to heal. The space even includes an outdoor garden and a boutique in the Cancer Center with items like wigs for chemotherapy patients.

We were asked to provide custom millwork solutions on all seven floors. We also provided the casework throughout as well as solutions for solid surfaces, wall paneling, and countertops throughout the building. Throughout this project, we wanted to infuse the same healing theme that was already working throughout the building. That said, though, we knew that our work had to be as practical as it did beautiful.

The results were nothing short of phenomenal. We managed to strike that perfect balance with this project, and the initial feedback on this has been wonderful.

Published: 10 May 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Each year, thousands of people are injured while on bleachers at a variety of different kinds of facilities. In some cases, it’s purely negligence on the part of the individual. In many other cases, though, the problem could have been prevented through solid bleacher inspection and maintenance. Most states have gone so far as to require yearly inspection for bleachers. Wondering what that entails?

Here’s a quick overview:

You should make certain that the bleachers aren’t unstable in any possible way. For example, they shouldn’t be leaning to one side, and they should be placed on level ground. Moreover, while walking on them, they should feel completely stable.
You should also make sure the structural support of the bleachers is solid. There shouldn’t be any signs of corrosion or rotting. All of the cross braces should be in good working order. None of them should come out past the bench seat edges. None of the welds should be cracked either.
Bleachers should have handrails in place, and if there aren’t any, warnings should be posted.

There are often other guidelines from state to state, and understanding those is your responsibility. For example, in many states, a simple safety inspection by your staff isn’t enough. In most cases, you’ll need a certified technician to look things over and file a report. Depending on the company from whom you bought the bleachers, some yearly inspections are required to keep your warranty in check, too.

Preventative Maintenance
Whether your annual check reveals a problem or not, you may still have a bit of work to do. Proper upkeep of your floorboards, stairs and walkways is a must. It can help reduce any falls from patrons. They need to be cleaned regularly as well. Handrails, if present, need to be tightened, and supports should be lubricated with all other moving parts.

Keep in mind that if you allow food onto the bleachers, it can get into the mechanisms and create real issues, so keep a close eye out for potential problems with food. There are ways to clean them well, but it’s a bit harder, so custodial staff should be part of the maintenance plan. The real key with preventative maintenance is not only to make certain issues are addressed as soon as they’re realized, but also to follow the manufacturer’s instructions with regard to the right maintenance procedures.

Bleachers are one of the biggest problems for many facilities because, while they do provide useful seating, they can also be hard to maintain. Contact a certified bleacher technician to make sure your bleachers are safe from year to year.

Published: 30 April 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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School cafeterias are unique places these days. You have to ensure a solid traffic flow so students can get through the serving area in time to eat, but you also want to make it an inviting place for every student. The standard industrial look just doesn’t do it these days. Our work with Plaza Middle School was an excellent proving ground for us. After all, there are no tougher critics than twelve and thirteen year old kids.

What We Did
We were asked to come in and provide every inch of the design work. For us, this meant creating a cafeteria seating layout that worked for students and staff, coordinating existing food service equipment into a layout that breathed efficiency, and looking at things from a “that’s cool” standpoint so students would really love the new lunchroom.

On that front, we created a custom laminated focal wall behind the service line itself, came up with an amazing railing system for the kids to line up at, developed custom logo graphic tables, and added durable custom artwork pieces throughout. The crowning jewel, though, was the eye catching school logo’s Tiger Eyes soffit that is actually backlit to make the eyes pop out at students.

The Results
Students and staff alike love the new space. It’s an environment students actually want to be a part of. We managed to combine their mascot and important themes to the school to help amp up student pride a bit, and because we used school colors throughout, it helped to personalize the space.

The lunch hour is one of the only times each day students can easily interact with friends, and that’s an essential life skill too, so we created intimate small group sections and booth seating for students to help invite students in. The booths and clustered seating area give it that fast-food feel students are so accustomed to, and we managed to meet all of the ADA seating guidelines in the process of our design work.

Middle school kids are tough critics, so we were nothing short of surprised at all of the positive feedback we got with this project. Now if our own kids would only think we were that cool.

Published: 25 March 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Whether you stop by a local fast food joint or you’re having a seat at that hip little bistro down the street, you may see more communal tables than you ever have before. Not familiar with the concept? They usually seat up to sixteen people, and the benefits can be enormous. In a world where online communities are quickly becoming everything, promoting actual communities through seating like this is certainly not a bad idea. It can help regulars sitting near each other get to know one another by passing the salt and pepper shaker, and it may help them feel more at home. It can also keep people in the area longer than you’d imagined, which may mean additional profits.

Thinking about going this route with your food court seating? You may want to consider the following:

Make certain the table works with the dining space itself. If you’re doing a retrofit, you need to carefully consider traffic flow and the actual spacing. Communal seating means larger tables than normal, so think carefully about layout before you go with communal tables.
Think about your customers. Communal tables don’t work well in every setting. Big tables may mean louder conversations, particularly in the food court setting. That may even be disruptive to others, so consider customers before you make your choice.
Table height matters. You can get community tables in both the high topped variety and the more standard size, and finding the right one to meet your needs may take a customer survey. In most cases, something standard will work best, but a bar-height can also work well.
Don’t forget about lighting. This is a big concern in the case of retrofitting an area with communal tables. You’ll need fairly specific lighting for the table you choose. If you don’t make that consideration, you could certainly end up leaving it in a light void. Communal tables can work in a food court seating area, but make certain you carefully consider them before you install them.

Communal tables can work in a food court seating area, but make certain you carefully consider them before you install them.

Published: 5 March 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Whether you’re talking about a local community center, a high school, or one of the best universities in the nation, gymnasium seating can be nothing short of difficult to purchase. The seating is easily one of the most important products you’ll purchase for your gym, and getting it right the first time is key to the success of your facility.

Telescoping Options

In many cases, you’ll want telescoping seating included somewhere in the plan. While you may end up with half of your facility dedicated to fixed seating options, adding some telescoping seating options to your gym can really be a help for events that are simply bigger than you’d initially planned. What’s more, though, is that since they don’t have to be present all of the time, you’ll have the flexibility you need when it comes to floor space.

There are really two main choices when it comes to telescoping seating. You can either go with bleacher style seating or platform style seats, and the differences here depend a bit upon your goals. While bleacher style seats are sure to help you pack the crowd in for every event, platform seats are likely the more comfortable of the two options. In some cases, you may want to go with a mix of both seating styles, but decisions like those have to fit into your layout and the aims of the facility. You may also want to look into flex seating options that could allow you to carefully configure seating arrangements that will better suit the needs of the various sports your gym plans to host.

As you shop for telescoping seating options, make certain you look for a solid combination of durability and reliability. It could also be important that you look into ADA compliant seating to help make some guests more comfortable and help to make sure your facility meets the code requirements.

Customization
No matter what seating option you end up with, don’t forget that with many companies, you can customize your choices to help make it unique to your gym. In many cases, you can add wireless remotes and even audio alerts to help make your seating safer and easier to operate. You can also typically add school lettering or logos that help to make your seating choices look unique.

With gymnasium seating, you don’t have to go with the first solution you find. These days, technology appears even here, and no matter what your goals, the right company can help you meet them with perfect seating.

Published: 27 February 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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With a heavy heart we announce the passing of Anita “Nita” Frazier. Taken too soon in life Nita will be remembered by all those she leaves behind. Her twenty-three years of service and dedication to Carroll Seating Company was unwavering. Detail orientated and the ability to direct, Anita wore many hats, Personal Assistant to Pat Carroll Jr, Office Manager, friend, confidant, but above all part of the Carroll family. Her undeniable love for all that crossed her path will resonate in the hearts of those she touched forever.

We are fortunate and immensely grateful to of had our time with Anita may she rest in peace knowing she was loved by so many!

Published: 15 February 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Look Modern
Whether you manage a cafeteria, help run a school, or even run a business with many employees, “keeping up with the Jones” is a very big deal. While completely renovating a building to make the architecture modern would most likely be far too uneconomical to pursue, there is indeed a different way for you to make your facility shine to both visitors and those who attend it or work at it: a change in seating and furniture.

This is certainly a way to keep with the times without breaking the bank, and the furniture inherently can make a bold statement about the type of atmosphere you wish for your building to have.

Get a Cozy Feel
The last thing most visitors to a new building want is to be forced to sit in old, hard chairs. This feels far more institutionalized than any recreational furniture should be. Fortunately, we have a solution for you!

Don’t keep your old furniture and allow your patrons to suffer! Rather, have one of our consultants come take a look. We can recommend any of a variety of our professional and endorsed seating to make your atmosphere be as appealing and accommodating as possible.

Save Money
Seating arrangements in many buildings are not nearly as economical as they could be. If you find that you are often running out of seating for your clientele, chances are you feel that you’re in a crunch. While you need for your customers to sit comfortably, you most likely would not like to take out a loan to completely remodel.

Luckily, we can also make custom seating arrangements for you. These can be very ergonomically sound chairs that are arranged in a more compacted fashion, but feel far more comfortable to your patrons than your old seating.

In this fashion, you save money while making your patrons feel far more comfortable. Rather than needing to remodel, you can simply buy new furniture that spruces up the atmosphere, makes it more physically comfortable, and saves you money! In the end, the situation is a win-win, no matter what your perspective is!

Published: 12 February 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

A huge problem in today’s seating market is a lack of respect for the customer. For too long, we have all seen advertising promising the “lowest liquidation prices” of the year. However, these companies often do not stand behind their products. This leads to no accountability for furniture or seating quality. Likewise, these companies continue to woo naïve customers into buying their products, but they are gone when the consumer needs support.

Luckily, Carroll Seating is different from most seating companies. We stand behind our furniture one-hundred percent. As a matter of fact, we service our own seating, offer parts for our furniture, and even do repairs on our own furniture! This way, if your seating ever breaks or is subjected to excess force, you will know you have a technician specially trained in repairing your furniture!

If your purchase anything from Carroll Seating and there is an issue, you can either call or email a factory certified technician with any issues you may have. The number is even toll-free in order to ensure that you do not pay for the basic support every consumer deserves.

If your problem cannot be resolved with an email exchange or even a series of phone calls, Carroll Seating is one of the few companies that provides its own complete repair service with factory certified technicians.

Rather than being forced to simply purchase new furniture due to either the inexistence of technicians for your furniture or the sheer expense of the technician’s fees, Carroll Seating provides very reasonably priced fixes that can greatly improve the longevity of our furniture in your institution.

While we can provide the minor and major repair services for your furniture as discussed above, we also can provide service for any state or county mandated inspections for entities such as bleachers in sports stadiums.

After purchasing from any of our illustrious lines, you will be able to email us for inspection questions, requests, and help. Additionally, if you feel that you are competent in seating repairs, we also sell individual parts for furniture.

Our philosophy is that since you paid for quality, you deserve quality for the long-lasting life of your seating. That is why we take every last opportunity to ensure that you get the best quality care, parts, support, and service from our well trained staff.