180,000 sq.ft

2020

Sutton,MA

Primetals, Inc., a manufacturer of steel manufacturing equipment and rolled

steel, was looking for a new, modern facility to replace their current building

which they have occupied since their founding in 1888. This design for a new

ground-up building consists of 140,000 sf of industrial manufacturing directly

adjacent to 40,000 sf of office space. High levels of transparency, carefully

planned adjacencies, and shared program encourages collaboration and

interaction between engineering and manufacturing teams which have occupied

separate facilities since the 1950s. Visitors and office employees alike enter

through a large glass atrium gallery where over 60 company-held patents and

Industrial Revolution era equipment prototypes are displayed. This entry links

the two-story office space by a featured staircase. The gallery also provides a

visual connection to the factory, through a large curtain wall at the end of the

space. The factory, which houses their manufacturing plant, provides a large

open space with the equipment placed strategically to make their manufacturing

process more efficient, yet gives the users enough space to work comfortably.

The floor to ceiling curtain walls within the precast panels cover the perimeter

of the office building, allowing natural light to flow into the space. The façade is

constructed using concrete insulated precast panels, which shortened the

schedule significantly and allowed for the building to be weathertight much

sooner than with conventional framing. Detailed reveals and branding help

break up the large concrete façade while mimicking similar delineations seen

on the office’s façade. As a whole, this building creates a place that will continue

the company’s legacy of technological industrial innovation.