3 unusual uses for metal grating
Metal grating is indispensable in various industrial and commercial settings. It ensures safety by providing a stable flooring base and traction, especially, at heights. It also serves as an effective safety barrier, preventing accidents that could harm staff, equipment and the facility itself.
However, metal gratings versatility extends beyond these familiar applications. Using steel grating in new and unique fashions can combine its practical safety applications with other considerations, like a specific aesthetic or opportunities to set a mood when entering a facility. Let's look at three unusual and attractive applications of metal grating.
1. A unique, consistent aesthetic
Metal grating can be used for standard floor and walkway coverings to platforms and mezzanines. While safety and durability are paramount, there are opportunities to create a unified aesthetic within functional requirements such as traction and weight support. This unified visual feel can make a facility appear more cohesive overall, providing a sense of continuity across all surfaces where the material is used. This aesthetic can be extended to protective barriers, strengthening this holistic approach to design.
Several strategies can help achieve this unified look. Prefabricated panels can be used in many circumstances where grating meets the needs of the facility. Knowledgeable grating providers can also create custom grating that fit into nonstandard floor plans and address specific operational needs requirements, allowing for consistent appearance as well as and effective safety management of safety concerns.
2. Visually appealing applications in entryways and office spaces
Not every space within an industrial or commercial facility needs metal grating from a safety or functional perspective. Office areas, entryways outside of the factory or warehouse and other places within the facility may not need the same slip protection and support if staff aren't engaging in activities that require this level of safety and support. However, metal grating serve as a design element in these areas, visually tying all areas of the facility together with a unified appearance.
Using the same metal grating within an entryway or foyer, set into a supporting floor structure, helps to indicate the major purpose of the facility and the type of work performed there to everyone who steps foot inside it. Metal grating can also be used in a pure application of form in this way, mounted to walls to provide visual context. Although it's not being used in its most common application, it can be a powerful design element that creates a sense of unified function.