Address: 2210 Dr Randy McDaniel Way.
Middleton, FL 34762

Work: KENPAT installed 240,000 square feet of acoustical ceilings, 2,622 different acoustical wall panels, and a mixture of eleven types of specialty ceilings. The project utilized a wide range of materials including four types of acoustic ceilings; one copper/tin ceiling; sound-reflective wood ceiling clouds; two torsion spring metal ceilings, each with different wood-look finishes; two linear metal ceiling systems in different wood-look finishes; and three different metal baffle ceiling systems.

GC: Wharton-Smith

Architect: Schenkel-Schultz

Dates: August 2022 – August 2023

Awards:

• 2024 ABC Central Florida Chapter Excellence in Construction Eagle Award

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The Villages Charter High School

Situation

The Villages Development Company directed that a new A-Rated Charter School with two state-of-the-art campuses be built in Middleton, Fla. The academic buildings feature high-end finishes and dedicated spaces for each of their many specialty academies, including Agriculture, Business and Banking, Com¬puter Science, Construction, Culinary, Digital Media, Engineer¬ing, Fine Arts, Graphic Arts, and Health Sciences. The challenge was to balance aesthetics and superior acoustics in a large space with many hard surfaces, while dampening sound from young students.

Task

The project utilized a wide range of materials including four types of acoustical ceilings; one copper/tin ceiling; sound-reflective wood ceiling clouds; two different torsion spring metal ceilings with different wood-look finishes; two linear metal ceiling systems in different wood-look finishes; and three different metal baffle ceiling systems.

In its past and rather extensive history, KENPAT had never been assigned another project that used so many different design components on the same contract. The design team chose different systems altogether to ensure separation between the design aspects.

The general contractor also assigned KENPAT the task of installing 2,622 wall panels including wood grille wall panels, nine types of fabric-wrapped panels with six fabric selections, and two types of felt panels in various colors.

Action

The challenge in this large space with so many hard surfaces was to create an attractive presentation while providing superior acoustics, all with great eye appeal, to dampen the sound caused by so many young students. To do that, the interior ceilings and specialty products from our scope of work consisted of 240,000 SF of acoustical grid and tile, 2,622 different wall panels, and a mixture of 11 types of specialty ceilings.

The project utilized a wide range of materials including four types of acoustical ceilings; one (1) copper/tin ceiling; two (2) different torsion spring met¬al ceilings with different wood-look finishes; two (2) linear metal ceiling systems in different wood-look finishes; and three (3) different metal baffle ceiling systems, as well as nine (9) types of fabric-wrapped wall panels with six (6) different fabric selections; two (2) types of felt wall panels in a myriad of colors; wood grille wall panels; and sound-reflective wood ceiling clouds. We were also responsible for integrating a quartz countertop into one of our vertical baffle installations to achieve a “1-piece seamless look.” This required steel supports that we painted to match surrounding finishes.

This wide range of materials and installation types required a great deal of attention to detail and a strong set of skills on the part of our team. Working on such a wide variety of projects that involved all the ceilings and many of the wall systems required close coordination with other work teams to avoid delays that allowed us to finish our work on time.

There has never been another project (in our past history) to use so many different design components on the same contract. Each building has a unique feel with different design elements that allowed us to showcase our skills and craftsmanship of what we can provide on such a project. As opposed to simply changing the finish on a single system between locations, this project used different systems altogether to ensure a separation between the design aspects.

The coordination for submission and approval of all the finishes was a major task based on the desire for cohesiveness with the other trades’ finished work. Instead of simply changing the finish on a single system between locations, this project used different systems to ensure a separation between the design aspects. Almost all these colors and faux-wood finishes are tied to another aspect of the design, whether that be adjacent millwork or something as simple as a paint color.

These are samples of just a few of the various ceiling types we installed:• The auditorium was built with suspended wood panels, fabric-wrapped acoustical wall panels, and wood grille panels. Each of these panels went through a bending process and were then mounted on frames before being hung on the ceiling; • Copper/tin metal lay-in ceiling at entryway to cafeteria; • Light pecan wood-look metal linear ceiling system at the high clerestory in the library: • Band room walls and ceilings included the 4x4 acoustical diffusers, as well as multiple types of fabric-wrapped wall panels; • Maple linear metal ceiling integrated with oil-rubbed bronze aluminum beam system in the cafeteria; • Floating wood-look torsion spring ceiling outside of auditorium.

Result

KENPAT was able to maintain the schedule of the project with a maximum of 12 people onsite at the peak. This was a significant achievement, given that the work spanned almost 500,000 square feet of floor space in the applicable building locations. Each building features unique design elements, showcasing KENPAT's skills and craftsmanship, and the company won the 2023 ABC Central Florida Excellence in Construction Eagle Award for its work on the project.