Room mainly blue floor and blue walls with mural on walls of sun, waves and tree, lighthouse playground and toys on floor Room mainly blue floor and blue walls with mural on walls of sun, waves and tree, lighthouse playground and toys on floor

Lighthouse Christian School

2010 | ANTIOCH, TENNESSEE, UNITED STATES | EDUCATION

The Lighthouse Christian School (LCS) in Nashville, Tennessee opened in 1979. The school consists of a preschool, elementary, middle and high school. LCS is primarily a college preparatory institution. All incoming students are placed on a track that will allow them to receive a diploma.

In addition to educating young minds, Lighthouse Christian School has provided shelter, food, water, clothing, counseling and a variety of social and financial services to the Nashville community for over 30 years. After the flooding that damaged much of the Nashville area in May 2010, eight of the 18 school buildings were severely damaged and its preschool was demolished. The school’s finances were nearly depleted and it was faced with the harsh reality of possibly shutting its doors.

Unique Solution

Fortunately, Lighthouse Christian School was selected as a recipient of ABC’s Emmy award-winning reality program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. In the timeframe of one week, the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition design team partnered with several businesses who supplied labor and materials as well as hundreds of local volunteers to help with the construction project.

Thirteen colors of Cortina Grande and Karim Kolors were installed in the entry way and corridors of the school. The flooring was installed in the natural color succession of the rainbow. The color scheme illustrated the depth of blues in the ocean as well as the waves and surf that splashed onto the sandy beach which housed a Lighthouse that served as a playground for its students.

Image Gallery

  • custom resilient flooring, blue wall mural with large yellow sun and blue wave, white cut-out birds hanging from ceiling custom resilient flooring, blue wall mural with large yellow sun and blue wave, white cut-out birds hanging from ceiling
  • sitting room with colorful tile floor, blue rug, gray couch two red chairs and wall installation made from stacked books sitting room with colorful tile floor, blue rug, gray couch two red chairs and wall installation made from stacked books
  • Room mainly blue floor and blue walls with mural on walls, lighthouse playground and toys on floor, white cut-out birds hanging from ceiling Room mainly blue floor and blue walls with mural on walls, lighthouse playground and toys on floor, white cut-out birds hanging from ceiling
  • Room mainly blue floor and blue walls with mural on walls, lighthouse playground and toys on floor, white cut-out birds hanging from ceiling Room mainly blue floor and blue walls with mural on walls, lighthouse playground and toys on floor, white cut-out birds hanging from ceiling
  • corner of playroom, blue walls, corner climbing bench, white cut-out birds hanging from ceiling corner of playroom, blue walls, corner climbing bench, white cut-out birds hanging from ceiling
  • school playroom with wood platform with toy fishing poles and fish, two boats on wheels, wood blocks in background school playroom with wood platform with toy fishing poles and fish, two boats on wheels, wood blocks in background
  • school playroom, blue walls, resilient tile floor, lighthouse play structure school playroom, blue walls, resilient tile floor, lighthouse play structure
  • hallway with colorful square tile floor, light blue wall, two drinking fountains mounted to wall hallway with colorful square tile floor, light blue wall, two drinking fountains mounted to wall
  • kitchenette with white cabinets, dark gray countertop, light gray, cream and orange square patterned floor kitchenette with white cabinets, dark gray countertop, light gray, cream and orange square patterned floor
  • school playroom, blue walls, resilient tile floor, lighthouse play structure school playroom, blue walls, resilient tile floor, lighthouse play structure
  • school playroom with wood platform with toy fishing poles and fish, two boats on wheels, wood blocks in background school playroom with wood platform with toy fishing poles and fish, two boats on wheels, wood blocks in background

J & J Interiors Inc. provided the commercial flooring installation by using SpraySmart adhesive. The installers worked under challenging circumstances and fully utilized SpraySmart adhesive. SpraySmart adhesive sets so quickly that it allowed the installers to efficiently lay the tile and the tack was strong enough to hold the tiles in place, even with immediate traffic on the floor after the installation.

“Given the compressed timeline and unusual working conditions, we felt very fortunate to make use of SpraySmart adhesive,” stated Crump. “Once we put down the floor and walked away, the floor stayed in place. Within minutes of laying the floor, the construction crew brought lifts to paint the walls. If we had used a traditional adhesive, the floor would not have adhered to the subfloor or withstood the amount of heavy traffic immediately after installation.”

Lighthouse Christian School needed a colorful resilient flooring solution that was durable enough to withstand high traffic, yet easy to maintain. Karim Kolors commercial resilient tiles offered the design flexibility, aesthetics and maintenance qualities to meet the facility’s needs. With a wide range of color options and superior performance warranty, Tarkett’s commercial homogeneous tile provided the right flooring solution.

About the Project Contributors

The design team for the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition episode featuring the rebuild of The Lighthouse School included Ty Pennington, Paul DiMeo, Tracy Hutson and Leigh Anne Tuohy, interior designer and subject of the nationally acclaimed movie “The Blind Side.”

Nashville-based Dryden Abernathy Architecture Design (DA|AD) led the architecture and engineering team with LP Building Products and HARDAWAY Construction Corp. acting as the two primary construction firms. J & J Interiors Inc. provided the commercial flooring installation. In addition to several businesses donating material and labor, hundreds of local volunteers joined the construction effort. This group accomplished the daunting task of building a new structure in one week, which normally takes construction crews multiple months to complete.

Solutions at Work Guide

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