Modernfold manufactures operable partitions, glass wall systems and accordion doors, specified and installed through licensed local distributors. For Lifeway's Nashville workplace, architecture firm Visioneering Studios worked with Modernfold distributor Southeast Partitions on the operable wall package.
The project
Lifeway, a 130-year-old nonprofit provider of ministry resources, set out to build a workplace that would draw a hybrid workforce back into the office — the central problem facing corporate interiors since remote work became a permanent option. The building had to hold three different scales at once: private working spaces, small team meeting rooms, and gathering areas for up to 300 people used for product launches and client events, alongside multimedia production needs.
Two design intentions shaped the specification. The operable walls, being among the largest surfaces in the interior, were expected to work as features in their own right rather than as neutral dividers. And transparency through the central Commons was treated as a requirement: with team rooms at both ends of that space, the design called for light and unobstructed views running all the way through to the exterior.
The products in use
The distributor recommended combining two product lines with matching aesthetics, so that a glass system and a high-performance acoustic system could sit within the same interior without reading as unrelated products. Acousti-Clear® panels were specified with satin black powder coat frames and a 51 STC rating, delivering the transparency required through the Commons while still sealing the rooms acoustically. Acousti-Seal® Premier® paired panels, rated at 50 STC and finished in a wood veneer vinyl, handle the divisions where the wall is a solid surface rather than a view.
The finish pairing is the point worth noting for specifiers: a satin black metal frame against a wood veneer face gives the two systems a deliberate relationship rather than a coincidental one, which is what allows large moving surfaces to be treated as architecture instead of equipment.
Coordination
The distributor worked with the architects across dimensions, design, pricing, finishes and panel storage, and the existing older building presented conditions that had to be resolved individually as the installation progressed — a common circumstance where operable walls of this weight are introduced into a structure not originally designed for them.
The result
Months after opening, the rooms served by the movable partitions were reported to be among the most heavily used spaces in the building, and the objective of creating an office competitive with working from home was met.
Technical documentation and brochures for the Acousti-Clear® and Acousti-Seal® product families are available from the manufacturer. Click here to download.
