FEATURED PROJECT: LOEWS CONVENTION CENTER HOTEL
Project Overview
Facility: Loews Kansas City Convention Center Hotel
General Contractor: JE Dunn Construction
Architect: Cooper Carry, Atlanta GA; Garcia Architects, KC MO
Services: Hufcor Operable Partitions
Project Overview
The Nettles team collaborated with Cooper Carry and Garcia Architects as well as with J.E. Dunn Construction to install Hufcor operable partitions in Loews Kansas City Convention Center Hotel, a new high-rise currently under construction in downtown Kansas City, adjacent to Bartle Hall.
The Problem
The Loews Convention Center Hotel wanted to offer flexible spaces for meetings and gatherings of different kinds. To do this, the hotel needed to be able to quickly and easily subdivide the large convention facility into smaller sections. The partitions also needed to have high acoustic value and be aesthetically pleasing.
Another issue was that some of the rooms requiring partitions had over 20-foot-tall ceilings and were located on the second and third floor of the hotel. This created significant logistical challenges getting 20 foot and 24-foot-tall partitions to the upper floors of the building.
The Nettles Solution
The Nettles team installed Hufcor operable partitions (sometimes called moveable walls or airwalls) in Loews Convention Center Hotel in various locations–kitchens and dining areas, ballrooms, meeting rooms, etc. Two kinds of partitions were installed: acoustical panels, which are made of cloth fabric, and wood frame glass panels.
The sizes of the Hufcor operable partitions vary according to the floors on which they were installed. The fourth floor features 275 linear footage of 20-foot-tall partitions.
On the sixth floor, the team at Nettles installed almost 400 linear footage of 24-foot-tall partitions, along with 40 linear footage of 12-foot timber-framed glass partitions. The 24-foot-tall partitions were hoisted up to the sixth floor. Each of these 24 x 4 foot partitions weighs 800-900 lbs per section, and so the JE Dunn and Nettles team used a crane to raise and position the partitions.
Why were Hufcor operable partitions in particular used? Most importantly, Hufcor operable partitions adhere to the highest industry standards and quality. Because of this, they are extremely durable and are designed to last years before any kind of service is needed. Also, unlike other brands, they are field-repairable. The partitions should last the life of the building since Hufcor is a long-lasting, quality product.
The history of Bartle Hall, part of the Kansas City convention complex, illustrates the longevity of Hufcor operable partitions: Bartle Hall originally began with as many as 6 different brands of partitions, but throughout the years, as the other brands wore out, they were replaced with Hufcor operable partitions. In fact, the Bartle Hall Complex now has over 100 Hufcor operable partitions.
This type of Hufcor operable partitions can be installed virtually anywhere, from classrooms to ballrooms to meeting rooms to office spaces.
To find out more about Hufcor operable partitions, contact us.
