Art Rack Storage

In an effort to give our friends, family, clients, and potential clients a clearer idea of what our business (www.integralstoragesolutions.com) does, we are going to try to give a "behind-the-scenes" look via this blog.  Many times, we find ourselves in a situation where we are proposing a fairly significant change to a clients' space.  We have pictures, brochures, and case studies, which generally have professional and staged pictures, and show an effective end result.  But, there is a lot that goes on between "how it looks now", and that end result.  

These pictures are from a recent project at a local community college.  They were building a space to store their framed art.  Our partner, Montel (www.montel.com), is well known for the quality and design of their museum grade art storage.  Before we began, the space looked like this:

In this case, the space was built with the purpose of storage in mind. Sometimes, it is more of a retrofit.  For this space, our movable art rack equipment was to be floor support and ceiling guided. So, the architect left access to the ceiling / floor above the space.

Our first task was to accept the delivery and stage the equipment.  This happened to coincide with one of our snow storms on the East Coast this winter, so the delivery was not without issue.

Next, after ensuring their are not conflicts with pipes, ductwork, etc., the ceiling grid is installed.  The ceiling grid stabilizes the art rack panels, and supports the glides.  As you can see, the grid is comprised of rods, supports, glides, and angles (not shown) to anchor to the walls.

Once the ceiling grid is installed, we move on to the foundation of the system: the rails.  The rails carry the weight of the panels.  So, it's crucial that they are level, straight and plumb with the ceiling guides.

Once the rails are leveled, grouted and secured, we try out one of the assembled art rack panels.

Plumb and square.  Now that we have verified everything is aligned and secure, we install the subfloor between the rails, and assemble the rest of the art racks.

Although the lighting was not yet installed, and there were still some finishing touches to add, the art racks were installed and ready for the framed art.  To us, it was already art.  But, we're really into art rack.

These arts racks are over ten feet tall, so they have fully utilized the potential of the storage space.


We will post some true "after" pictures once the space is complete, and art is loaded onto the racks.  In the meantime, if you have any questions about the installation, or anything else related to the project, please do not hesitate to contact me at jeffd@integralstoragesolutions.com.