In 2024 Griesenbeck Architectural Products worked alongside PBK Architects and SpawGlass Construction Corporation on a project at the Lamar Institute of Technology in Beaumont, Texas.
According to Griesenbeck’s website, “In 2022, the Lamar Institute of Technology announced plans to build a three-story, 52,000 SF building dedicated to expanding and enhancing its healthcare and career education programs. The Workforce and Allied Health Training Center provides new state-of-the-art labs, instructional, communal, and office spaces to better serve its students. The design committee also wanted the new building to be a marketing tool for the Institute and built in several eye-catching architectural features including two stately staircases – one on either side of the building.”
The new building design initiated the challenge to protect building occupants in a fire emergency while incorporating two statement, decorative stairwells that are open to all three floors of the new training facility. However, Griesenbeck had a solution — two McKEON Model AC8814CP-PC side-folding accordion fire shutters at the new three-story Workforce and Allied Healthcare Training Center to preserve the open space design while simultaneously satisfying fire and life safety code requirements.
Griesenbeck furnished and installed the two 3-hour-rated UL-10B side-acting accordion fire shutters measuring 23’ 3” W x 8’ H and 8’ 7” W x 10’ 4” H, with ADA-compliant egress at each staircase on the third floor. The shutters deploy automatically by an alarm trigger allowing occupants to get to safety through use of push paddle exit devices even when the power is out.
Griesenbeck helped create a functional and aesthetic environment for the students and faculty who use the facility. The new Workforce & Allied Health Center is a showpiece for Lamar Institute of Technology’s commitment to quality education and continued innovation, and the inclusion of McKEON fire shutters ensures the safety of those who will pass through and use the facility for years to come.