Parkerhill, Smith, and Cooper

This past field trip was to Parkerhill Smith and Cooper. It is a design firm located in Lubbock, Texas and is the first LEED certified building in the Lubbock area, with a silver certification. PSC does commercial work and employs interior designers, architects and engineers. The firm consists of two main offices next door to each other and a few smaller satellite offices. The first building was built before LEED and is therefore uncertified but was built with many of the same materials and concepts seen in the second building.

On this trip one of the things we discussed about materials was the length of their life. I had never thought about how sometimes a product that is cheaper upfront ends up costing way more in the long run. For example, flooring typically chosen by schools is damaged easily requiring frequent replacement. It also requires a lot of up keep with cleaning and regular stripping and waxing. Not only do you have to pay for all that labor but it also dangerous because it uses harsh chemicals. Therefore a product with a longer lifespan can help accumulate building points for LEED.

There were many interesting “green” features about the LEED office. The first was the sock air ducts. These were made out of fabric instead of metal. It is basically a fabric bag with small holes running along the sides that allow air out. These ducts are more efficient than metal ducts because it provides more direct air circulation. Metal ducts also require frequent cleaning because of dust build up. The bags don’t need this as often because they deflate when air isn’t blowing through them. Also, air seeps through the fabric itself blowing the dust off the round duct.

The second interesting feature was their green roof. This means that part of the roof is a garden like area with lots of plants. Dirt is a very good insulator but is very heavy so you need a larger structure to hold up the green roof. The structure makes the building more expensive upfront but ultimately a green roof saves heating and cooling costs. It typically takes three years before you start seeing a return on the investment.

The third feature was the parking lot and it tied in with the green roof. The parking lot is part of a water irrigation system that helps water the plants on the roof. In past years when there hasn’t been such a harsh drought, the system actually provided all the water needs for the roof. When it rains, water runs down the slanted parking lot towards a trough that then takes the water back up to be used. However, because the parking lot carries oil from cars and other debris, the water must first pass through a patch of grass that acts as a filtration system. PSC had to get special permission from the city of Lubbock to allow the workers to park on grass. To prevent the cars on the grass from contaminating the water, they made thin strips of regular parking surface right where a car’s tires would rest. This way it made the parking lot less expensive and greener.

The field trip to Parkerhill Smith and Cooper was a very informative trip. I gained a lot of new design ideas, and how to apply them to an environmentally friendly space. I learned a lot about LEED certification also. It was really cool to see all the neat things that are aesthetically pleasing, helpful in saving money in the long run and beneficial for the environment.

Collin's Tile and Stone

Leftwich Chapman

Leftwich Chapman flooring is a locally run flooring retailer in Lubbock. They sell a variety of hardwood floors, carpets, tiles, and vinyl/laminate products. Their primary market is residential with some small commercial clients. They also work with insurance companies replacing ruined flooring in fire or water damaged houses.

On our tour we were first shown their hardwood floor section. Along with the typical wood floors like maple, oak and cherry, there were a couple of different ones. One product was a leather plank made of recycled pieces of leather. Surprisingly, it is harder and more durable than one would expect. Another interesting product was cork flooring. An important thing that I learned on this tour was that wood flooring is not a good idea for kitchens and especially bathrooms. It warps very badly with water which is abundant in a steamy bathroom, and it isn’t uncommon to have at least one leaky pipe or dishwasher at some point in a kitchen. I also learned that bamboo is only suitable in very humid climates; it doesn’t do well it dry places. However it should still not be used in bathrooms or kitchens.

Next we were shown a variety of different carpets. One product that really stood out to me was called. It is a recycled product but is very very soft. It also cleans very easily. There are lots of cool different things going on with carpets right now. There are lots of interesting colors to choose from along with a number of different patterns. Some carpets have patterns made through different texture or thicknesses instead of color. These are very popular right now.

After carpet, we were shown tile products. Leftwich Chapmen not only sells flooring in this department but also backsplashes and different wall applications. There are a great variety of tile sold on the market today. Glass tile is very popular even though it is expensive. There are also a variety of shapes including circles and octagons instead of just squares and rectangles. One of the downfalls of using tile is the grout. Dirt and stains get trapped in the grout and it is hard to clean and almost impossible to keep stain free. Apparently there is a new type of grout coming out on the market that is supposed to do better in that department, but we will see how well it holds up as time goes on.

Finally we were shown the vinyl products. This market has come a long way from where it first started out. These products look way better than they did even 5 years ago; they look more real, and less fake. Another plus is that compared to tile and hardwood floors they are cheaper. They are also more durable, easier to clean and install, and easier to repair when damage occurs. Vinyl is also sold in planks like hardwood floor and also in large sheets.

This was a very good field trip. I learned a lot of useful information that is easily applicable to the interior design field. The people at Leftwich were very nice and friendly. They also had a wide range of great quality products so I would recommend this place to anyone in the Lubbock area.