Staying Nimble

In 1917, Alcide Mandeville and his sons founded Mandeville Signs (Lincoln, RI); today, the family’s fourth generation handles the company’s operations; Tom Mandeville serves as the company’s third-generation president (his father, Roland, replaced Alcide), and his siblings, Jim and Jeanne, also work there.

Nearly a century later, the shop has built a vibrant business; its portfolio includes signage, awnings and environmental graphics for such nationwide companies as Panera Bread, Talbot’s and Borders Books, among other corporate and institutional clients. 

Given the company’s prolific body of work, it’s earned a strong reputation. This reputation – and a desire to keep a pipeline of vital new business during economic challenges – helped the company win a project that falls outside the purvue of traditional signage. Mandeville created an internally illuminated façade and architectural graphics for a Holiday Inn Select in Stamford, CT.

Mandeville enjoyed an ongoing relationship with Christopher J. Henderson, the hotel’s Providence, RI-based architect, and was brought in by Henderson and the general contractor, Boca Raton, FL-based Shakman Hospitality. DiLeonardo Intl. (Warwick, RI) created the concept design for the architectural graphics as part of the hotel’s original, architectural plans.

The three-sided façade graphic spans 160 ft. long and 8 ft. tall. Mandeville fabricated the acrylic facing using Cyro Industries’ 0.177-in.-thick Acrylite #2447 white, high-impact acrylic. The shop fabricated the façade at a 244-ft. radius using custom forming and bending equipment. The shop also fabricated a custom cabinet using aluminum tube and sheetstock.

To produce the facade’s graphics, Mandeville printed the graphics using 3M’s translucent, ivory vinyl and high-performance, metallic-gray, overlay film with reverse-weed ovals.

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To illuminate the façade, Mande-ville recommended LEDs. After testing, they selected SloanLED’s Great White 2 modules and methodically populated the façade with 3,200 LEDs.

To accentuate the property’s interior décor, Mandeville produced a series of mounted, digitally printed, acrylic faces. The shop produced the pieces using 0.177-in. Acrylite material, on which the shop direct-printed the graphics at 600 x 600 dpi on its Mimaki JF-1631. A low-luster overlaminate finish protects the pieces.

To install the panels, which measure up to 4 ft. 6 in. wide and 22 ft. tall, Mandeville used ABC Sign’s 3.25-in., rectangular, post-and-panel system. The shop also fabricated custom standoffs and supplemental structural components from aluminum plate and tube extrusions.