Campus Materials

In any commercial space certain materials must be obtained, and with these materialsthere is criteria that must be met. Schools are a major type of commercial building. People pass in and out of these facilities on a daily basis, therefore every textile, material, and surface must be durable. There are six types of fabric application, seating, window covering, wall covering, panel systems, floor covering, and fiber-based art. Most of these are used in every commercial space.


In the Student Union Building at Texas Tech University, many different fabric applications may be found. One of these is seating. Because the Student Union Building is a high traffic area and is used on a daily basis, durable material must be used. On most of the upholstered chairs you may find a polyester blend material. The application of this material is actually quite successful. It is a comfortable material and because of its material blend of polyester it is easy to clean and fairly durable. This material can be found on these chairs in geometric shapes and in solids. Durability is very important because students sit on the chairs every day, even sleep on them sometimes! The chairs have been upholstered in this material for a few years and have hardly any wear to them, if not any, and will probably stay that way for a couple more years. Unfortunately, users tend to get tired of the material and want something new and updated, despite the condition it may be in. The ability for the fabric to stay clean is also an important factor because people are always on them and the chairs are located near areas of food.


Texas Tech University was very successful at choosing a very durable material for their seating. It has held up for a few years and a lot of students eating, sleeping, drinking, etc. on them. The pattern placement was also good. It showed a flow match placement. This where the pattern of the fabric matches where each cushion ends and the next starts. This is very pleasing to the aesthetics side of the building. Overall the seating in the Student Union Building was very successful in their application.