By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
OCT. 19, 2018 | Russell Adams, president of MTI Baths of Sugar Hill, supplied shower pans for a John Portman hotel project in Hotel Indigo a few years back, which eventually has led to a new opportunity for his company. (MTI Baths manufactures high-quality acrylic and bath products, including whirlpools, soaking baths; lavatories; shower bases; and kitchen sinks.)
Adams ended up spending several visits with Portman, the world famous architect who originated the atrium design for hotels. The first atrium hotel was the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, opened in 1967. We remember coming from South Georgia to see the new hotel concept, and like everyone else on entering the lobby, looked up at the soaring 22 story lobby, mouth opened. Now atrium hotels are common all over the world, many of them Portman-designed. Mr. Portman died Dec. 29, 2017.
Adams remembers: “Here I was in John Portman’s office, and everywhere, there was lots of art, much of it designed by Mr. Portman. The office had an 18 foot ceiling, and full glass windows looking out on downtown Atlanta.”
Portland was interested to see if MTI Baths could take their expertise in fiberglass molding of tubs and replicate pieces of art. “I left there with one of his valuable art pieces, to see if we could copy it.” The art piece was about 18 inches tall, and Portman wanted to replicate it—only 21 feet tall!
Adams
Adams says: “We did it in plaster and then poured castings, using the lost wax process. It was to be made out of sculptured stone, which we use in our high end tubs. We created the process and the pricing structure, and Portman understood that. But Portman instead asked MTI Baths to look at another idea, another Portman art design.
It is to be a massive 40 foot tall “Koan,” a Buddhist term, which Portman said means for people to “sit and discuss things.” Portman felt it was perfect to be located on the campus of his alma mater, Georgia Tech, which seeks meaning through “Knowledge, Research and Creativity.”
This structure is highly futuristic, basically three connected thin rings which look like they are flipping in the wind, connected in a fluted white design, to be made from a new mineral composite made from crushed Georgia granite and resin. The material is stronger than steel, and expensive, but light. This material is anticipated to be a major building element in the future. The design is now being tested by engineers and architects in wind tunnels.
The Koan will weigh 8,000 pounds, and will be anchored directly to the ground, resting on three footings. It will have a ceramic coating, which if vandals attack, can be wiped clean. The project is expected to be finished in early 2019.
“What we will fabricate is three molded rings and hope to make it a perfect modular structure. The ring circles will connect unseen in innovative ways. We’re real excited about it.”
WHILE MTI BATHS is venturing into uncharted waters in this Portman art project, it continues at a rapid pace on producing bathtubs, sinks and shower stalls. The firm now employs 229 persons. Most of the operation is in Sugar Hill in 150,000 square feet of space, where the company produces about 140 tubs a day, “though we build then only after they are ordered,” Adams notes.
MTI Baths has also recently bought a 43,000 square foot facility in Commerce, Georgia. There 10 employees are producing a new high-end tub made with mineral composite from granite quarries, with a matte finish.
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