The First Facility Management Blog

Sometimes what you see is NOT what you get. Check out the following photos for an excellent example of the truth behind this statement.

This woman is getting ready to enter a public toilet in London.

Now that you’ve seen the outside view, take a look at the inside view…

It’s made entirely of one-way glass! No one can see you from the outside, but when you are inside it’s like sitting in a clear glass box! Now would you…COULD YOU….?

From Snopes.com:

The concept of how we react to “seeing but not being seen” was put to the test by Monica Bonvicini in December 2003, when her work (entitled “Don’t Miss A Sec”) was installed at a construction site across the road from London’s Tate Britain museum. Bonvicini’s creation is a public toilet enclosed within reflective glass walls that allow the user to see out but prevent those outside from seeing in. It’s an exhibit that challenges whether we adapt to the idea of being able to view others passing in close proximity to us while we engage in an activity which we don’t want them to view.

Here’s another one. Imagine you are at a party on the 10th floor, and then you have to visit the bathroom. You open the door…
(Scroll sloooooooowly)

Kinda takes your breath away, doesn’t it? Would you be able to use this bathroom? Or would you open the door and then shut it in disbelief?

Here’s the last one. It’s the ceiling mural in a smokers’ lounge.

I think the image speaks for itself.

Thanks to Megan Knight for submitting this information.

Two years after undergoing a $60 million interior makeover, the New Orleans Morial Convention Center turned its paint brushes to the building’s exterior for a dramatic change. Earlier this year, work crews began applying the first coats of deep blue paint needed to replace the building’s 279,000 square foot brick red stripe.

The Convention Center main entrance

Conceived in 1981, the building’s original exterior color scheme of light beige, brick red, and dark green was based on certain colors particular to the neighborhood, an area crowded with small 19th century warehouses. The palette was designed to make the new, modern building better harmonize with its Old World surroundings.

Over the years, business at the Convention Center helped spur the Warehouse/Arts District’s revitalization, dramatically transforming it to an area flourishing with fine dining establishments, hotels, art galleries, and commercial and residential development.

Today, the red brick color has given way to “Convention Center Blue,” a custom color by Richard’s Industrial Coatings. “The new shade of deep blue appropriately reflects our relationship with one of the most famous bodies of water in the world, the Mississippi River,” said Bob Johnson, the Convention Center’s president and general manager.

The painting crew applied custom color "Convention Center Blue" onto the facility's exterior.

The new color gives the building a more classic look and complements the building’s redesigned interior palette, which is exhibited in 88,000 square yards of carpet and 26,000 new meeting room chairs.

“We’ve gotten incredible feedback from our client base about the new color. It’s amazing how this one cosmetic change can make such a huge difference in our appearance,” said Johnson.

The Convention Center’s 2006 renovation was so well received that more building improvements have been implemented to further enhance the Center’s value to clients. More than $20 million of additional interior and exterior improvements have been completed or are underway, including an aesthetically enhanced main entrance, additional landscaping, new furniture pods, and technology upgrades to debut later in the year.

Read TFM’s January 2008 coverage of the Convention Center’s post-Katrina renovations, “Swift Recovery” here.

Contract furniture designer and manufacturer The HON Company has put a colorful new spin on its metal product lines through a partnership with Sherwin-Williams. By teaming up with one of the biggest names in color, HON is working with Sherwin-Williams to offer a high tech color matching system on all metal casegoods and desk products. Through the new ColorCorrect program, designers and end users have the option to chose from 42 fashion forward, industry standard colors or specify any custom matched color they choose.

“Through this exciting partnership we now can match any color you like from wall paint to artwork, or even your favorite sweater,” said Fred Colony, vice president of metal casegoods. “If you want one unit in a custom color, or 100 units, we can create your customized paint color for any quantity.”

The ColorCorrect program offers three different levels—an expanded offering of HON’s core colors, the choice of industry standards, and custom colors for an array of design options. The precisely matched customized color will be applied using Sherwin-Williams’ durable PermaClad coating, which provides color, a tough mar-resistant finish, and high gloss.

“It’s the perfect partnership,” says Andy Maguire, vice president of marketing at Sherwin- Williams chemical coatings division. “HON is the expert in furniture. We are experts in paint color. We’re bringing them the color ingredients for their high quality products. It’s attractive to designers and architects, who like the latitude to pick from a wide range of colors for commercial interiors.”

“We do most of the tinting at our plants so we don’t have long lead times for custom matches,” Colony says. “And, if we can’t make it at the plant, there’s always a Sherwin-Williams store nearby to support us to ensure we stay on top of our standard lead times.”

What’s more, the two companies also share a sense of environmental responsibility. For years, Sherwin- Williams has produced coatings with low volatile organic compounds (VOC) to help reduce emissions. For more than 60 years HON has implemented sustainable practices to improve indoor air quality. For example, in 2006, HON became the first furniture manufacturer to have products certified in the Indoor Advantage™ program by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). HON’s manufactured storage products have achieved the highest level of certification—Indoor Advantage Gold—meeting the most stringent standards for furniture emissions in the United States.

The HON Company’s waste reduction efforts include recycling paint. In 2007, the company recycled more than 50,000 gallons of paint at its various manufacturing locations nationwide.