Primetals
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.