Because of the rapidly increasing number of workstations and the frequency of reconfiguration, a cable routing system was needed that provided both flexibility and ease of cable installation. The center spine cable tray fit the bill. Its open sides allow cables to be laid onto its rungs; cables do not have to be pulled in.
Tom Brady of Brady Electric, the installing electrical contractor, points out that cable installation cost savings are achieved every time a new workstation is installed or relocated. Because the tray system is open to view and access from the floor, no ceiling tiles need to be removed, and no cable fastening is required. Thus, the continued growth of UCA&L is not to be hindered by an inflexible voice/data, telecommunications infrastructure.
Dan Crocker of Trautman Assoc., Architects and Engineers for the project, describes the unique juxtaposition of cable tray, pendant fluorescent light fixtures, and suspended fabric acoustical baffles coordinated with the acoustical ceiling "islands" as a 3-dimensional geometric tapestry. In fact, the cable tray provides a functional and organizational pattern to the installation. The open space between the ceiling grids allows for sound to escape and be dissipated in the space above the ceiling "islands."
