Like many aspects of construction, the pre-planning and organization prior to material installation takes discipline and a future-proofing approach. During this stage on the Argo Headquarters project in Burlington, Ontario, the team at Harrington & Associates executed several access panels within the Longboard installation with a precision that was the result of thoughtful planning.

Dedicated Support

At Longboard, our in-house Design Services team is here to help as a partner in understanding the details of your project, and to execute this through services such as material estimation and shop drawings.

“I’d say planning is the most important part with the product.” says Evan Kobryn with Harrington & Associates. “Spend the time at the start on shop drawings. Lay it all out on floor. Only when everyone’s happy, then it goes up.” To achieve precision and efficiency, putting the effort into planning is critical.

Function and Form

At Argo HQ, about two dozen access panels were installed into the Endura linear ceiling system, each precisely installed to achieve a trim less design. What is noticed most, especially from a distance, is the vertical alignment of the planks, and the consistency of the woodgrain pattern. Not only does this carry through the intent from the architect’s design, but this installation achieves the practical functionality of an access panel, and the purpose this will serve for the occupants of the building.

We see our Tongue & Groove system used commonly to clad an access panel. Although our product does not act as the panel itself, cladding and incorporating this functional element is desired from both a design and installation perspective. Along with our typical detail, a few best practices we would recommend are as follows:

• About a 1/4″ overhang for your trim components (J-Track and/or Two Piece J-Track base).
• Trim component sizing can be determined based on the design or preference of the overall Tongue & Groove installation, if consistency is of importance. Otherwise, our Traditional components, the largest of the system offerings, to the Precision components, the smallest of the system offerings, can be used in this application.

Resources

Between our installation guides, our full library of CAD/BIM details, and our in-house team, we are here to walk through the technical aspects of your project, to help bring your vision to life.