AMERICA PLACE OFFICE BUILDING
Location:
150 Hilton Drive, Jeffersonville, IN 47130
Project Type:
Workplace
Status:
Completed May 2022
Client:
America Place
Scope:
81,377 Class A Shell Office Building w/
Tenant Buildout
Services:
Architecture
Interior Architecture
DKN submitted an RFP to design and complete construction documents for a speculative “shell” office building located in an existing primarily industrial development. The Client was seeking a building design with a unique architectural aesthetic while still being budget friendly.
This project was preceded by America Place’s own office building, which renowned architect, Kulapat Yantrasast, designed.
Our challenge was to deliver a beautifully designed, but cost-responsible speculative office building.
DKN collaborated with the owner/developer, America Place; Construction Manager (CM), Richard Banta; Civil Engineer, Heritage Engineering; MEP Engineer, Kerr-Greulich Engineers; and Structural Engineers, SCA Engineers, to deliver a modern building encompassing the Client’s desire for natural lighting, minimalist and modern finishes, and a timeless design. During the design process, America Place secured a tenant – Pharmacord – to occupy the entire building, so programming, space planning, and construction documents for the tenant buildout were also provided by DKN. Interior design was provided by Mary Lee O’Bryan.
The building is an exercise in the balance of luxury and restraint. The exterior cladding consists of Dri-Design metal panels, Nichiha fiber cement panels, and a black anodized aluminum storefront system. Custom, three-dimensional, vertically oriented black anodized metal panels accent the main entrances and are a lively contrast to the minimal stacked horizontal fiber cement, and staggered tone-on-tone metal panels that dominate the exterior cladding.
The graphic rhythm of storefront window mullions framed by the fiber cement panel element offers an acknowledgment of the entry’s custom metal panels, but at a lower cost.
The mixed palette of neutral metal panels on a 1/3 running bond pattern gives horizontal energy to the west side of the building, which balances the vertical rhythm of the façade’s entries and graphic mullion structure.
The play between vertical and horizontal elements continues when the sun sets, where the horizontal metal panels are interrupted by the staggered vertical color-changing LED lighting elements, a dynamic feature in an otherwise industrial neighborhood.
The lower level of the northeast side of the building folds inward as an inviting gesture for occupants approaching from the main parking lot. The inward folding façade extends the full three-story height at the central entry element. The grand stair, angled to respond to the entry procession, is a standard painted steel tube structure elevated by precast concrete treads and a sleek glass railing syste
