Design Speak lets you in on a some industry lingo so that you will sound oh-so-smart. From abbreviations to acronyms to phrases to trendy words, we’ll do our best to cover it, and we’ll do it in language you’ll understand.

P

powder coating

Though the term conjures up images of sugared donuts (in our minds, anyway – we love food), you definitely wouldn’t want to eat a powder-coated donut. You might not mind sitting on one, though. Let us explain. See, powder coating is a type of finishing process. You’ve probably seen it but just didn’t know what to call it.

It’s kind of like paint in that it completely coats an item, but it’s completely dry and can be used on a much wider range of materials and products because the result is quite durable, touch, and resistant to scratching and marring. The powder coating process can be used all sorts of items for all sorts of industries, including furniture, construction and design.

According to the Powder Coating Institute (yes, they have their own organization, and they can tell you whatever you want to know about powder coating)… “Powder coating is a superior alternative to liquid paint, offering optimum coating thickness, superior bonding process, and excellent corrosion protection. Finely ground particles of pigment and resin are electrostatically charged and sprayed onto products to be coated. The parts to be coated are electrically grounded so the charged particles adhere to them until melted and fused into a solid coating in a curing oven.” Cool.

power poles

Sounds like something a super hero might use, huh? Far from it. Power poles are generally hated by designers, but loved by facility managers. Why? They are highly functional, easy to use, and easy to move, yet traditionally unattractive. When core drilling is out of the question for budgetary, scheduling, structural, or practical reasons, power poles are everyone’s friend. They allow power – and now, since their original conception many years ago, data connectivity – to reach workstations from the ceiling instead of through the floor or wall. The electrical and data service runs from the floor’s building core out into the plenum, down through the power poles, and directly to the work areas. Every open office furniture manufacturer makes their own poles to complement their lines, and now many are so aesthetically pleasing and/or architecturally integrated that designers don’t mind using them; however, many electrical equipment manufacturers have their own basic styles as well. Note: Power and data should usually be run in separate poles to avoid service interference. However, some poles have a septum (i.e. divider) that is effective for separation of services.

See also: core drilling

pre-hung door

(pronounced PREE-huhng dohr)

A pre-hung door is really a one-stop shop. Instead of having to buy all of the components separately, one can purchase a complete door unit comprised of a door(s), hinges, jambs, trim, and, if applicable, a threshold, T-Astragal, and a sidelight(s). It sounds like it would be a breeze to install one, huh? Not so fast. If you search on YouTube, you’ll find several videos instructing you step-by-step on how to hang a pre-hung door in a rough opening with accuracy.

See also: astragal, rough opening

pre-tension / post-tension

This is not the kind of tension you pop a pill for. We’re talking pre-stressed concrete and masonry here. Not exciting from an aesthetic sense, but quite desirable from a structural sense. Why pre-stressing? Concrete + Steel = Strong Structures. Cement-based building materials are superb when it comes to resisting compressive forces – the kind that crush them - but not so good at handling tensile forces – the kind that pull them apart.

The two methods of pre-stressing are pre-tensioning and post-tensioning. For the “pre-“ technique, the steel is stressed first, then the concrete is cast around this reinforcing. This process is performed at a pre-cast manufacturing facility, so the completed pre-stressed concrete members are then transported out to the job site and assembled. On the other hand, the “post-“ way involves installing the reinforcing on the job site after the contractor forms up the slabs / constructs the walls and columns. The steel is housed in a sheathing or duct that prevents it from bonding to the concrete; therefore, it can be stressed after the concrete hardens. So now you know.

See also: core drilling and rebar

presentation board

(pronounced preh-zen-TAY-shun bord)

See mood board.

punchlist

(pronounced PUNCH-list)

You will also see this as two separate words (punch list), as well as a shortened form (a punch), or even as a verb (to punch). So what is it, already? It’s the term – used in both commercial and residential design – to describe the process of physically reviewing the near finished product / final phase of a project and the subsequent “to do” list that results. As a designer, you might perform a punch with the client and the general contractor at the very end of construction (before furniture is installed) to review quality of finish work and needed clean up, and then you might write up another punchlist later for the furniture installation company. The idea is to have spelled out all of the items that the general contractor / furniture installer needs to complete before the client takes possession of the space. It can be very frustrating when a general contractor calls for a “punch” too early because then there are just so many things to write down and monitor, but it happens all the time.

purchase order

(pronounced PER-chehs OR-der)

More commonly shorted to the term “P.O.”, a purchase order is a document that constitutes a legal offer to buy products or services. The P.O. should detail out types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the seller will provide to the buyer. If a seller accepts the purchase order from the buyer, then it creates a contract between the seller and buyer.