Washington Fruit & Produce Company’s new headquarters building appears to have taken a few design cues from Frodo and Bilbo’s Shire. The building is tucked neatly behind landforms and site walls to blend in with the landscape and provide a refuge from the noise and activity of the industrial processing yards nearby.
The HQ building is modeled after an aging barn the client identified as a favorite with the result being a simple exposed structure that uses a limited material palette and natural patina. Board-formed concrete site walls and earthen berms wrap the perimeter of the HQ to form a central, landscaped courtyard.
Visitors coming from the parking area cross the courtyard via a boardwalk to reach the building entrance; a fully-glazed façade with a series of wood columns spaced across the building in regular intervals. The boardwalk aligns with an offset wood-wrapped entryway inserted into the glazed façade.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Scott.
The 18-foot-tall scissored glu-lam structural columns are pulled to the outside to enable the 175-foot-long interior space to be completely column free. The interior, which is topped with 68-foot-long exposed truss girders, reaches a maximum height of 20 feet.
Summer heat gain is limited via south-facing overhangs and high efficiency glazing. Meanwhile a long clerestory dormer on the south side balances interior light. Reclaimed barn wood siding and a weathering steel roof round out the exterior materials.
The interior provides offices along its south wall, while conference spaces and back-of-house functions are set in wood-clad boxes. Furnishings are all kept low in order to reinforce the open feeling of the structure and a raised flooring system further preserves the clean aesthetic of the HQ building.
The L-shaped structure also includes a sales office and a lunchroom featuring a 30-foot-long table where staff and farmers can gather for communal meals.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Scott.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Scott.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Scott.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Scott.
Related Stories
| Sep 20, 2022
New Long Beach office building reflects Mid-Century Modern garden-style motif
The new Long Beach, Calif., headquarters of Laserfiche, a provider of intelligent content management and business process automation software, was built on a brownfield parcel previously considered undevelopable.
| Sep 6, 2022
Demand for flexible workspace reaches all-time high
Demand for flexible workspace including coworking options has never been higher, according to a survey from Yardi Kube, a space management software provider that is part of Yardi Systems.
| Sep 2, 2022
Converting office buildings to apartments is cheaper, greener than building new
Converting office buildings to apartments is cheaper and greener than tearing down old office properties and building new residential buildings.
Mass Timber | Aug 30, 2022
Mass timber construction in 2022: From fringe to mainstream
Two Timberlab executives discuss the market for mass timber construction and their company's marketing and manufacturing strategies. Sam Dicke, Business Development Manager, and Erica Spiritos, Director of Preconstruction, Timberlab, speak with BD+C's John Caulfield.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 90 Construction Management Firms for 2022
CBRE, Alfa Tech, Jacobs, and Hill International head the rankings of the nation's largest construction management (as agent) and program/project management firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 200 Contractors for 2022
Turner Construction, STO Building Group, Whiting-Turner, and DPR Construction top the ranking of the nation's largest general contractors, CM at risk firms, and design-builders for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 45 Engineering Architecture Firms for 2022
Jacobs, AECOM, WSP, and Burns & McDonnell top the rankings of the nation's largest engineering architecture (EA) firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 80 Engineering Firms for 2022
Kimley-Horn, Tetra Tech, Langan, and NV5 head the rankings of the nation's largest engineering firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
| Aug 22, 2022
For Gen Z, “enhanced communication” won’t cut it
As the fastest-growing generation, Generation Z, loosely defined as those born between the mid-1990s and early 2000s, has become a hot topic in conversations surrounding workplace design.
Giants 400 | Aug 21, 2022
Top 110 Architecture/Engineering Firms for 2022
Stantec, HDR, HOK, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
