1st November 2020
Metal Mesh Partitions And Space Dividers: Outside In
Gabions, gates and grates. Metal mesh has a long tradition of outdoor use spanning hundreds of years. Over time, metal mesh has earned a reputation as a practical, durable yet surprisingly versatile material thanks in part to its uncanny ability to meet a wide range of specifications.
With a variety of practical exterior applications including vent panels, cages and baskets it is little wonder that metal mesh was eventually introduced to the world of interiors. Its inherently superior performance properties led to its adoption as the go-to material for radiator grilles the world over.
Fast-forward to the present day and metal mesh is an invaluable material asset, its reach permeating every industry from agricultural to automotive. Yet, despite metal mesh’s popularity and prevalence in industrial markets, both architects and interior designers alike continue to probe its potential for architectural and creative applications.
Most recently, forward-thinking practices such as Space10 have implemented mesh partitions as a means of mediating the compartmentalised cubicles of yesteryear with increasingly popular open-plan office environments.
Not only would moveable woven and expanded mesh walls and space dividers provide a good interface between open and closed office layouts, they would also enable airflow whilst providing a visible spatial division. This can have a multitude of benefits including better access to natural daylight, increased levels of concentration amongst the workforce and may even help some people curb social anxiety in the workplace.
Statistics show that 40% of the population identify themselves as introverted, these partitions, albeit open/punctured ones, have a somewhat similar psychological effect as a completely closed-off cubicle would i.e. being walled off from the world and able to fully fixate on tasks at hand. This, in turn, can benefit the quality of life immeasurably for those who would otherwise feel a relative level of discomfort at work and perhaps not perform as well as they could.
Creative metal mesh screens can also have a huge impact on the health of our workforce. As we prepare to head back to the office amidst the coronavirus pandemic, we must ask ourselves, ‘what can we do to ensure the health and wellbeing of our employees?’.
Well, one answer may be to install flexible copper mesh panelling to maintain access to both sunlight and clean air as well as to lower the contagion of Coronavirus. COVID-19 has been found to live for up to only four hours on copper surfaces as opposed to its significantly longer life of seven days on its plastic counterparts.
It’s clear that metal mesh partitions can substantially improve the mental as well as physical well being of workforces all over the world but in what other creative ways can we use metal mesh to better our interiors?
At Amron Architectural we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of metal mesh innovation. Projects such as the recently completed Gymshark Lifting Club, based at the sportswear brand’s headquarters in Solihull, incorporate our metal mesh design whilst simultaneously demonstrating the untapped potential of this unique, and often underrated, material. In keeping with the industrial aesthetic of the interior, we used Zircon 114 – in steel and a raw finish as the best product for the HQ’s industrial style partition screens.
We aim for each and every one of our projects to put forward the argument as to why we should bring what was once considered an ‘outside’ material in and it seems that the time has come to reinvigorate an all-time grate.
Read the full article in SpecFinish Magazine.
