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Quincy, MA. - The Dr. Rick DeCristofaro Learning Center is a 57,000-square-foot, three-story facility comprising 30 classrooms. Acquired by the City of Quincy in 2020, the building underwent a comprehensive renovation in collaboration with Wessling Architects to establish a distinctive school for Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 8 students. The Learning Center’s educational program caters to students requiring significant support in communication, academics, and social and emotional development within small, specialized classrooms. Wessling Architects working alongside Altro sales representatives, specified approximately 6,100 square yards of Altro Orchestra and Altro Symphonia for the renovation.
“Considering the unique needs of this population, great care was taken to ensure that the flooring was environmentally friendly and easily maintained with a maximum life expectancy. Of additional importance was the reduction of sound and increased protection from vibration resulting from the movements of furniture and activities of young children. Altro vinyl sheet was selected as the flooring for all classrooms, corridors, therapy and staff rooms for meeting these criteria as well as providing a smooth, comfortable and slip-resistant surface.”
Altro Orchestra is engineered to create the ideal environment to heal, learn and live while making life easier on the feet of students. Wessling Architects also opted for Altro Symphonia due to its sustained slip resistance and industry-leading durability.
The Quincy Public School Department asked that each of the five floors of classrooms have a different themed “neighborhood” that the children could identify with. These neighborhoods - Storybook, Seasons, Rainforest, Garden, and Waterworld are defined through use of color, materials and pattern in classrooms and corridors. Altro’s wide range of colors and design flexibility ensured that each neighborhood would have its own identity. Elements such as curves in the flooring layout of classrooms and corridors encourage a sense of calm. Angular patterns are used where children will be permitted to be more active.
Furthermore, the site consisted of varied construction that was built and rebuilt over the course of 100 years, resulting in subfloors of wood, existing concrete and new “green” concrete. These conditions created challenges involving material transitions, the installation of control joints and material underlayment and prescribed adhesive that required extensive research to provide the most effective, safe and smooth flooring product installation. Pavilion Floors was committed to delivering a secure installation that was faithful to the design, executing seamless heat welds and detailing, ensuring that the Atro system would achieve the flooring goals of the Dr. Rick DeCristofaro Learning Center.
From concept to construction, this project spanned four years. Progress was impacted by the transition from in-person to virtual meetings, supply chain issues and increased material costs during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite numerous changes and adjustments to the project scope, Altro remained the standard for classroom and corridor flooring due to Altro Orchestra and Altro Symphonia’s wide range of colors and design flexibility, as well as their smooth, comfortable and slip-resistant surface.
Dr. Rick DeCristofaro Learning Center PDF
“Considering the unique needs of this population, great care was taken to ensure that the flooring was environmentally friendly and easily maintained with a maximum life expectancy. Of additional importance was the reduction of sound and increased protection from vibration resulting from the movements of furniture and activities of young children. Altro vinyl sheet was selected as the flooring for all classrooms, corridors, therapy and staff rooms for meeting these criteria as well as providing a smooth, comfortable and slip-resistant surface.”
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