Operable Walls in a New Jersey Youth Center | Modernfold

Modernfold manufactures operable partitions, glass wall systems and accordion doors, specified and installed through licensed local distributors. When the New Jersey nonprofit LUCY Outreach built its permanent home, architect Gregory La Vardera brought the manufacturer and its regional distributor ModernfoldStyles into the project, and the two operable wall systems were subsequently donated by the manufacturer in the autumn of 2022.

The project

LUCY Outreach delivers educational, social, spiritual and service-oriented programming to young people in the Camden area. Its programmes are multicultural and multigenerational, and they vary in size and character from one day to the next — a group discussion, an art activity, a gathering of the whole community. The architect and the organisation's executive director identified flexible space as a critical need early in the design, since a fixed room layout would have forced the programme to fit the building rather than the reverse.

The products in use

Two Acousti-Seal® Premier® single panel operable wall systems were installed, allowing the main space to be divided into three rooms according to the needs of the day. Children can be grouped by age or by programme, each group with its own room, and the acoustic separation prevents activity in one area from carrying into another — the practical requirement behind running several programmes simultaneously in one building.

To reach 50 STC, the panels were built at 3 inches thick with fixed seals at the top and A2 automatic seals at the bottom, running on a #17 standard bracket switch and curve track system for straightforward day-to-day operation. Trim and hinges were specified in smoke gray.

The corkboard faces

The most consequential finish decision was to specify full-height corkboard on both faces of every panel. That choice changes what the partition is for: it divides the space when closed, and in either state it functions as a display surface. The young people using the centre pin up artwork, photographs and project work across the walls, so the largest surfaces in the building carry the work of the people who use it rather than remaining blank. It is a straightforward option to specify — Modernfold lists marker and tack board among its standard panel finishes — and one worth considering wherever a partition faces a room used for making things.

The result

The organisation reports the walls to be user-friendly and durable under the demands of working with large groups of teenagers, and the rooms they create are used for gathering and discussion as well as for structured programming.

Technical documentation and brochures for the Acousti-Seal® Premier® operable wall are available from the manufacturer. Click here to download.