Custom metal fabricator TC/American Manufacturing recently completed a high-profile project for NASA's new space shuttle Atlantis display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.
The Waite Park, MN metal fabrication and machine shop built two massive kinetic theater door panels for the Atlantis display, which is scheduled to open in July 2013. Designed by the Minneapolis kinetic architectural firm Uni-Systems, the fast-acting theater doors will provide space center visitors with a dramatic audiovisual theater experience. (Shown right, the support tower for the structure.)
As part of their tour, visitors will enter the theater and watch a short audiovisual presentation about the space shuttle. Then the theater's opaque sound isolation panel will dramatically lift behind the translucent projection screen and reveal the actual 100-ton Atlantis shuttle, which will appear to be soaring through space. The projection screen panel will then suddenly lift and the audience will be escorted through a portal and into the shuttle display area.
TC/American built the structural steel panel frames and support towers for the theater panel doors and assisted Uni-Systems with shop assembly and testing to ensure that the doors could operate flawlessly through 500 cycles. The company also sandblasted and painted the frames and towers. Uni-Systems installed the doors' drive mechanisms, controls, sensors, and screens. The doors were installed at the Space Center in mid-September. (Left, support tower with?sound isolation barrier installed.)
Several unique features of the project required special construction considerations, according to Uni-Systems president Bart Riberich. Primarily, sound was not permitted to escape into the visitor center area and the door assembly had to be extremely durable to withstand frequent openings and closings.
"The sound panel has an STC [Sound Transmission Class] rating of 54, which is very stringent," Riberich noted. "The assembly also cycles up and down every 8-10 minutes, 16 hours a day, so it has high life-cycle use. There was quite a bit of special construction for the sound panel as far as the drive design component."
Managing an Oversized Job
Riberich said he selected TC/American to build the panel frames and support towers because it was the only metal fabrication shop he could find with a high bay large enough to accommodate the 46 ft tall x 36 ft wide assembly, which included a 16 x 28 ft portal, 28 x 32 ft screen, and 17 x 32 ft sound panel.
"The scale of the assembly required a high facility, and their fabrication experience was well suited for this project," Riberich said, noting that he would use TC/American Manufacturing again. "They were easy to work with and responsive to the customer's needs, and they were cost-effective." (Right, movie screen in place.)
The central Minnesota metal fabricator is accustomed to taking on super-massive and high-profile projects, said TC/American project manager Loren Loso.
"TC/American has unique capabilities," Loso noted. "Our building is suited for large fabricating and the capability to manufacture oversized and heavy projects. We also work with our customers to ensure that the equipment and parts we manufacture have been manufactured and tested to meet our customers' requirements and delivery schedule."
Loso said his employees used nearly all of the shop's machining and fabricating capabilities to complete the project within a tight deadline.
"We have a very dedicated work force, and working side by side with Uni-Systems, we were able to get the project completed on time. Our employees at TC/American are our biggest asset and we are very proud of the projects that have been produced at our Waite Park facility."
