News & Trends

Customer service is a key component of Corporate Concepts' business model. The furniture and manufactured construction distribution company, which also happens to be the 14^th largest women-owned business in Chicago, was first established in 1983. Throughout the past 30-plus years, it has grown tremendously, now running two offices in Illinois—one in Chicago and the other in Lombard—while transforming commercial interior spaces into high-productivity environments for its clients, one project at a time.

Open-style office environments have been on a steady rise throughout the past decade. Rather than being stuck in a cubicle like Peter Gibbons from Office Space—that is, until he knocks it down—employees of both small and large businesses now work in one common area, without separation. Oftentimes, glass office walls or glass partitons keep the space open, while also alleviating concerns about noise, distractions, and a lack of privacy.

Most people don’t give glass enough credit. Stop to think about it, however, and it becomes crystal clear: Glass can be found pretty much anywhere—in residential homes, commercial offices, restaurants, universities, and sports arenas, among many other venues. Plus, this incredibly versatile and useful material is not solely a human creation. But we’ll get into that in a minute!

When it comes to commercial interiors, Agile Interiors has made an impressive name for itself. The Houston-based architectural construction and design company found its niche more than a decade ago, becoming a DIRTT Environmental Solutions distribution partner. DIRTT, short for “Doing It Right This Time,” is a customized interior manufacturer that aims to “build better” with more efficient design, manufacturing, shipping and installation processes.

People spend most of their time at work, which means that for many the office is their second home. But it certainly doesn't feel like home, does it?

Have you ever been to a hockey game and wondered how the glass boards lining the rink withstood the constant impact of players and pucks slamming into them? Certainly, regular glass would shatter but the transparent material is different—it's made of tempered glass.

When you want to hire a tempered glass company for your commercial project, you should consider your options carefully so the finished product will turn out exactly how you imagined it—maybe even better! But first you need to know what to look for in a tempered glass company to guarantee you'll make the right choice.

For Scott Spector, architecture is a family affair. After all, as principal of the Spector Group, one of the top firms in New York City and Long Island, he can trace his lineage back to his dad, Michael Spector, who began the company more than a half a century ago. Today, Scott runs the Manhattan office, while his brother Marc handles the Long Island operation. The next generation is coming along too—as Scott’s son just graduated with an architecture degree.

Whether you ordered modular office walls, hotel counter tops or store fixtures, the glass manufacturer must complete certain steps, including cutting and shaping, edging, drilling and tempering, in a specific order to ensure that the finished product retains the highest quality.

When a glass fabricator puts glass through the tempering process, the material is first heated in a furnace and then rapidly cooled. As a result, tempered glass is five times stronger than regular or annealed glass. It can better handle thermal stress, which makes it harder to break. And even if tempered glass does break, the pieces aren't sharp and jagged but dull and round, so anyone near the shattered glass is far less likely to be harmed.