Auto Town Ingenuity
Additional Info
Award Winner : NewGround
Architectural Excellence : Banking business is down. The auto industry is stagnant. Customers are losing jobs and homes. Banking competitors are everywhere. A dead market, yet Community Financial wanted to build a new branch in a Detroit suburb. Enter NewGround. Eye popping curb appeal in a 2 story entrance tower, a veritable beacon calling out to potential customers. A transitional style structure with native, stacked stone blended with brick and dryvit accents, a rich charcoal shingled roof, and copious amounts of glass in the tower.
This is not your daddy’s stuffy old bank. The lobby ceiling features a pattern of drywall soffits with higher planes containing the lights and ceiling tile that accent the greeter station, waiting area, teller counter and check desk. An angled teller counter balanced by angled walls and curved floor patterns add visual interest to the interior. Diner-style polished metal accents with bold colors speak to originality with flare.
Cost Energy Effectiveness : Our Client’s budget was very constraining. The shifting of high cost union driven local labor rates to a more efficient and more economical factory environment gave NewGround the competitive advantage to win the deal. The economics of buying materials in bulk, having materials stored under roof, readily available when needed to be assembled, and building the structure in a lightning-quick 4 weeks, with non-union labor, was essential. Even with the added cost of building the tower in the field and providing custom field finishes, the cost of the building overall was much more economical, allowing our Client to spend more money on improving his site.
They will continue to reap the benefit for years to come of the operating efficiency of the building due to the multiple zoned HVAC systems, high energy efficiency gas furnaces, higher SEER rated air conditioning systems, and the beefed-up insulation in the walls, the roof and under the floor system.
Design Firm Name : NewGround Resources, Inc.
Occupied Date : 7/25/2007
Production Start Date : 12/1/2006
Project Location City : Canton
Project Location State Name : MI
Technical Innovation : Utilizing factory-built construction allowed us to provide more functional space within the given square footage, optimize services offered, and yet still create the exciting contemporary look and feel that put our Client’s competition to shame and gasping for the tailpipe! Because local site approvals dragged on, factory construction allowed the building to be built while the site, MDEQ, and MDOT approvals were slowly churning through the red tape, thereby recouping some lost time. Concurrent completion of site work and building trimout produced an earlier opening date, than had the building been site built.
Delays also allowed our Client to physically walk through his assembled building components in the factory, thereby getting an excellent feeling for space relationships and room sizes. The plan was so well designed that nary a single change was required.
The interior, finished in a dynamic color scheme, integrates low maintenance materials with an inviting look and feel.
Total Square Feet : 3566