Arktura’s Custom Feature Ceiling – Pixel Swarm Wins CISCA 2020 Construction Excellence Awards in Manufacturer – Boutique Category

At this year’s virtual CISCA Construction Excellence Awards gala, Arktura was announced as the Gold Award Winner in the Manufacturer – Boutique category with Pixel Swarm. Arktura’s Solutions Studio® collaborated with Graphite Design and T-Bar Construction to employ innovative, thoughtful approaches to design, manufacturing, and installation to make this unique, complex custom ceiling system in the heart of downtown Seattle, Washington a reality. The feature ceiling, which spans interiors and exteriors, serves as the key welcoming attraction to a massive new two building high tech firm office campus finalized in 2019.

Portions of the system flow seamlessly from interior to exterior, with exteriors posing some unique challenges. Apart from having to be able to withstand exposure, exterior components, some installed multiple stories high, also had to be engineered to withstand the winds that can be expected at these altitudes. The project also had to overcome the logistical hurdles of tracking thousands of pieces from their creation in a manufacturing facility in Los Angeles, through shipment, and ultimate install over 1000 miles away. This, while also dealing with strictly enforced shipment windows, some as tight as 30 minutes, imposed by the city of Seattle due to congestion and construction volume. Shipments were carefully planned to align with these, and included documentation detailing how components pieced together, and where they fit into the larger scope of the project.

Enhancing both the visual richness and complexity of execution of the ceiling are the system’s integrated lights. These add to the ceiling’s dynamic feelings of movement in the nighttime, accentuating the angles of Pixels and colors of their underlying panels, and adding a layer of depth to the entire system, through their interplay of light and shadow. The end result is a unique experience that reinterprets Pacific Northwestern fondness of nature through an innovative, tech inspired lens.

Links:

CISCA.org Coverage of the 2020 CISCA Construction Excellence Awards

YouTubeVideo of CISCA 2020 Entries and Winners, Manufacturer – Boutique