Kids Give a Thumbs-Up to Wicanders

Hanover, MD, May 18, 2007--Cork Oak Floors now cover Amazement Square, the hands-on children's museum and interactive learning playground located in Lynchburg, VA. With a building based on a very unlikely premise, reading "Death to all Insects!" along its sidewall, Amazement Square is now dedicated to motivating all children and adults toward greater understanding of themselves and the world (yes, even the insect world!) around them. Wicanders floors facilitate creativity and learning by providing a wholesome environment that is safe, clean, and inviting. Wicanders floors are made from all natural Cork Oak, a healthy and sustainable alternative to common flooring. The designers of this "creepy" museum chose Wicanders Series 1000 from the Originals Collection in color shade Natural to cover approximately 5,000 square feet of the museum's high traffic areas. According to Garrett Jones, the building's Facilities Manager, Cork Oak was chosen to occupy this inspired space for several reasons, including, "comfort, noise reduction, warmth, cleanliness, allergy and dust reduction." These unique qualities played a major role in the creation of this innovative and amazingly tactile museum. The museum's remodeled structure, the J.W. Wood Building, has a unique history. In the past 150 years, the building has served as an infirmary for the Confederate Army, a commissary store in the 1860's, a warehouse and a wholesale grocery store in the 1930's. Only after several decades of being unoccupied did it become the home of Lynchburg's first multidisciplinary children's museum in 2001. Transforming the J.W. Wood Building, which is on the National Register of Historic Buildings, into a first-class, hands-on children's museum, was a monumental challenge. The museum's founders sought to create an original, playful learning environment that children and families could enjoy, while maintaining the architectural and historical integrity of the building. Dealing with the building's exterior was their first challenge. After a pressure wash treatment, signs of the old wholesale grocery firm and warehouse, including the inscription "Death to all Insects" along the building's entire sidewall was revealed. In an effort to preserve the history of the building as a wholesale store that sold insecticides, while also reflecting its new purpose as a learning organization that appreciates all forms of life, the founders of Amazement Square came to a creative solution. In a positive twist, the Square decided to adopt insects as the museum's official mascots (now known as the LynchBugs) and change the sign from "Death to all Insects" to "Respect to all Insects." While the museum itself may be 'crawling with critters,' Wicanders Cork Oak is naturally impenetrable to insects. In fact, Wicanders floors provide a range of health benefits. Cork Oak trees themselves are grown without the use of any chemical herbicides, fertilizers, or irrigation. The cellular structure of Cork Oak locks air into each chamber, making it impenetrable to moisture, mildew, and insects, even the museum's beloved mascot Scorpy Bug! Another influential factor in choosing Wicanders is the incredible warmth it brings, both thermal and visual, to any space. When remodeling the interior, the building's heavy timber framing, stone basement floors and walls did not provide the warmest, most playful environment for a children's museum. According to Mr. Jones, Wicanders was chosen "because it's soft, durable, and blended well with the wood/brick interior of the museum." With the use of Wicanders Cork Oak and the expertise of local architects, Craddock Cunningham Architectural Partners, contractors and designers, the building's harsh interior was soon transformed into an impressive, four floor, one-of-a-kind, hands-on learning center that continues to welcome and delight children and families from across the nation. One of the museum's many attractions is the Central Health Gallery, featuring "Your Amazing Body.." As children travel through a walk-through heart, they learn more about the body and functions of the heart and respiratory system. At Pedal Power, children can race against each other on bikes or play their favorite sport in the Virtual Sports Holopod and discover how exercise has a positive effect on their health. With all this hands-on action, there is lots of potential for spreading germs and viruses. Wicanders floors help reduce these risks. Cork Oak is naturally anti-microbial, anti-bacterial and hypoallergenic- some very huge benefits, especially when it comes to children. Wicanders is also remarkably resilient. The shape of cork oak cells allows it to pocket 89.7% of air within its structure, making Wicanders incredibly durable, safe, and forgiving for active children. Cork Oak is the only natural material that when compressed will consistently return to its original shape, posing as both gently giving and amazingly durable for well-tread surfaces. Wicanders' capacity for noise absorption caters to the kid-filled museum as well. The designers of Amazement Square left no sensory detail unexplored. The original warehouse space was an acoustical nightmare, but by choosing Wicanders, this innovative children's museum was able to dramatically reduce impact sound and reflected noise. Wicanders flooring is often used to diminish the echo effect in large corridors and hallways, as well as in specialty rooms such as libraries, classrooms, and theaters. The museum's exhibits and educational programs encourage everyone to explore the arts and humanities, culture, science, technology, their relationships to each other, and to the world. Wicanders Cork Oak floors help bring creative learning a little closer by providing a wholesome environment that is safe, clean, and inviting.

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