Lansing Community College Conference Center

Founded in 1957, Lansing Community College (LCC) is one of the largest community colleges in Michigan and has more than 23,000 students. Located in downtown Lansing, LCC offers more than 200 associate degree and certificate programs.

In recent years, college leaders knew they had to address a pressing challenge for their downtown location – the lack of meeting space. If the institution wanted to host speakers, conferences, or other large events, it meant cancelling or moving classes, which created quite a disruption for students and faculty.

The solution: A two-room, state-of-the-art conference center as an addition to the Gannon Building.

The 7,000-square-foot addition includes a large conference room, the 150-seat Michigan Room, and the 50-seat Grand River Room.

Designers chose Fabricoil for visual impact, and the result has visitors looking up.

“High” Design

The design intent for architects at DLZ was to create a unique, multi-functional conference center that could be used by LCC and the surrounding communities, and their vision looked beyond an ordinary four-wall meeting space. DLZ started with the ceiling to push the boundaries of interior design for an institution that is consistently named one of Michigan’s best community colleges.

Draped from the ceiling are an array of coiled wire fabric systems manufactured by Cascade Architectural. Architects at DLZ specified 1/4” aluminum Fabricoil with a powder-coated Brite Pearl Gray finish.

The winding maze of Fabricoil® twists around the circular, Saturn-like neon lights that highlight the ceiling space, creating a visually interesting architectural feature that is also functional in nature.

“Fabricoil allowed us to create a novel space for use as the college’s main conference center,” said David Evans, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, architect at DLZ . “The product acts as the ceiling for the room, screening mechanical and electrical equipment from view while allowing the space to expand vertically.”

Beauty that Performs

The swirling metal mesh goes beyond hiding hardware. Fabricoil also diffuses light throughout the space. When the blue light installed in the conference room is activated, Fabricoil takes on a chameleon effect and also displays blue tones, reflecting that light across the room.

“The conference center incorporates several visual guides to create a simplistic flow through spaces. This was accomplished and encouraged by the shapes of the spaces and views from space to space, locations of doors and openings, use of lighting and technology, progression of varying ceiling heights, overall ceiling and flooring design patterns, and custom design casework,” Evans added.

Coiled wire fabric offered LCC a solution that other traditional, more rigid metal mesh products could not promise. Fabricoil’s inherent flexibility allows the material to be installed in curved shapes as well as in tightly compacted spirals. The material may be pulled taut or left free-hanging like in the conference center.

Renovation: Complete

The addition of the Michigan Room and the Grand River Room gives LCC the flexibility and added real estate the institution deeply needed. Both conference rooms are equipped with the latest audio and video equipment. And thanks in part to the incorporation of Fabricoil in the overall design scheme, LCC now has a contemporary, stylish home for gatherings by both the college community and the community at large.