Creating more space in your school or other facility is almost impossible without a structural remodel. While most of us won’t be tearing down or erecting walls anytime soon, there is an affordable trick to creating the illusion of more space – room dividers.
While they have been around for decades, room dividers became particularly popular during the pandemic when separation was a key to the hope of carrying on with our normal lives. It was then that many schools and businesses realized just how beneficial room dividers can be.
The Pros of Room Dividers
Why add a room divider to your facility? Let’s take a look at the advantages:
- More Focused Spaces – Large multipurpose rooms were built to be just that, a home to a variety of activities and events. While having extra space is often desired, sometimes that space needs to be confined into smaller areas for a more focused and intimate feel. Room dividers can be used to block off areas of a room, create mini classrooms or learning pods, separate noisy and quieter groups and more.
- Noise Reduction – Studies compiled by the National Institutes of Health show the negative effects of outside noise on learning. Children are especially vulnerable to noise pollution as parts of their brains that affect focus have not fully developed. Reading levels, speech and comprehension are often lower in children who are consistently exposed to excess noise. Room dividers not only block excessive noise from other areas, some styles are designed to absorb noise. Screenflex, one of the nation’s top room divider manufacturers, reports that their honeycomb-core room dividers absorb up to 65 percent of ambient noise in a room.
- More Display Space – Room divider walls can also double as a display space. Fabric and cork divider walls allow items to be tacked right to the wall surface. Some whiteboard room dividers are made with a steel core so magnets can be used to hold items. The walls of whiteboard and some acrylic dividers can be written on with dry erase markers.
Room dividers come in many shapes, sizes and functionalities to suit a variety of facilities.
- Freestanding – A freestanding wall divider does not need to be mounted to a wall and has a wide feet and base to prevent it from tipping over. Most freestanding room dividers or partitions are one to three panels long. They are a good choice for offices or other space where a small amount of separation is needed. A freestanding partition could be placed between two desks during testing or used to separate two check-in areas of a doctor’s office.
- Wall-Mount – In large spaces like multipurpose rooms and cafeterias, room dividers are often mounted to the wall for safety and convenience. Screenflex wall-mount room dividers have a special mechanism between each panel that allows the wall to be neatly and compactly folded when not in use. The versatile locking joint also allows the walls to be positioned in different angles to accommodate room design and needs.
- Portable – Portable room dividers are popular because of their versatility and possibilities for shared use within a facility. Heavy-duty casters are placed at the base of each panel, making it easy to move, bend, set up and store your dividers. The portability means a facility can potentially spend less on dividers. For example, a school library could use the portable room dividers for testing one week while the athletic department sets up the dividers the next week in the gymnasium for sports physicals.
Room dividers are an excellent investment for schools, churches, businesses or any facility that wants to make the most of its space. Shop for room dividers online or call our sales team at (877) 839-3330 and we can gladly assist you.
