Despite a coronavirus pandemic that has delayed or postponed projects across typologies and markets, the design firm Ware Malcomb has managed to buck that trend with design work for new buildings and spaces that serve some of the country’s hardest-hit sectors, like retail and offices, as well as some, like industrial, that have prospered during the health crisis.
Since last spring, Ware Malcomb’s completed projects have included:
•In December, the relocation of Key Food Stores Co-op’s corporate offices from Staten Island, N.Y., to 38,000 sf of Class A office space in Old Bridge, N.J. The new digs, on two floors, includes a reception area, conference rooms, a fitness center, and wellness room. The space also features an executive suite, and a test kitchen. Aside from providing interior architecture and design services, Ware Malcomb’s in-house branding studio designed environmental graphics into the workspace and amenity areas. Unity Construction Services was the project’s GC; CBRE was its broker and project manager.
•New office space for Airspace Technologies, the air transport shipping firm, located within the two-building, 235,000-sf Atlas at Carlsbad (Calif.) campus that Ware Malcomb helped to transform in 2017. Airspace Technologies is leasing 23,000 sf that are divided into three department “neighborhoods”: Design, Engineering, and Administrative. A centrally located reception, boardroom, and break area serves as a hub for employees. Ware Malcomb provided interior architecture and design services for this project, which was completed in October. The GC was Good & Roberts; the CM Hughes Marino; and the furniture supplier Cultura.
•Last summer, the 7,500-sf Vallejo First 5 Center opened as a learning and play space for children five years old or younger from low-income families. The space, inside the Vallejo (Calif.) Shopping Mall, has as its focal point a large indoor playground featuring a fantasy theme of bugs and the outdoors. Ware Malcomb provided the interior design architecture and design services, and Underwood Construction was the GC.
L'Oreal's Pulp Riot brand is now working out of new office space in Encino, Calif. Image: Haley Hill Photography
•New offices in Encino, Calif., that Ware Malcomb designed for L’Oreal’s Pulp Riot hair coloring product line. The 6,600-sf space encompasses a hair demo salon, conference rooms, open and flex offices, and a photo studio. It also serves as a training facility for stylists who come from around the country. The GC on this project, completed in July, was Pinnacle.
•Loloi Rugs’ newest facility, which opened in Atlanta last May, is a build-to-suit 646,380-sf building that incorporates a distribution center, warehouse, office space, and product showroom. Ware Malcomb designed 10,000 sf of interior office space and the 5,000-sf showroom. The offices, located on the periphery of the floorplate, have large windows and glass walls to maximize natural light exposure for the space. Ware Malcomb’s GC partner was Alston Construction.
Ware Malcomb designed the interior space and showroom for Loloi Rugs' new warehouse in Atlanta. Image: Johnny McLendon Photography
BIO-MASS BOILER A FIRST FOR ITS MARKET
Yesterday, Ware Malcomb announced the completion of the new Denver headquarters for TruStile, an industry leader in interior doors whose parent company is Marvin Windows & Doors. The headquarters includes 50,000 sf of office space and 260,000 sf of manufacturing/production space with a large outdoor amenity deck.
Bringing natural light into the building was an important design feature for TruStile's new headquarters. Image: Inside Out Studios
Ware Malcomb provided architecture, interior design, and engineering services for this project, which was built by Ryan Companies. The design team, at TruStile’s behest, ensured the layout of the open office and amenity areas were located near windows as much as possible. The production area is also visible from the building’s training room and various points in the office.
TruStile—which had been operating out of four buildings in Denver—has combined its operations into a single structure whose environmental features include a two-story mechanical building at its northern flank housing a bio-mass boiler that converts sawdust produced by the factory into energy for heating and cooling.
This site was constrained by its proximity to a 100-year floodplain. It required a development permit and a letter of map amendment and letter of map revision based on fill, known as a LOMR-F, whose issuance eliminates the federal flood insurance purchase requirement as a condition of federal or federally backed financing. This project also required a large underground detention system that was the first of its kind in Colorado.
ECOMMERCE IS DRIVING NEW PROJECTS
640 Columbia in Brooklyn, N.Y., will provide “last mile” distribution logistics for ecommerce. Image credit: Neoscape
Among the projects that Ware Malcomb currently has under construction is a multistory distribution center, known as 640 Columbia, which the firm developed in collaboration with DH Property Holdings and the GC firm Suffolk Construction.
Located on 4.5 acres in Brooklyn, N.Y., the 370,000-sf facility—which follows an industrial design prototype that Ware Malcomb came up with in 2017 for land-constrained sites—will provide so-called “last mile” logistics for the delivery of online purchases. The facility will include a warehouse, office space, two levels of truck docks, a mezzanine with parking, and dedicated elevator service on the third floor. An attached 77,853-sf parking structure will accommodate up to 184 vehicles for employees.
Since 2017, Ware Malcomb has designed approximately 20 million sf of industrial distribution projects in North America. The Brooklyn facility is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2021. Its building team includes SMBH Structural Engineering (SE), WB Engineers and Consultants (MEP/FP), and Bohler Engineering (CE).
Related Stories
Retail Centers | Jan 31, 2022
Amazon Style: Amazon’s latest innovative physical shopping experience
In January, Amazon unveiled plans to build a physical fashion store concept, dubbed Amazon Style, in Los Angeles. The e-commerce giant says the store will offer “together the best of shopping on Amazon–great prices, selection, and convenience–with an all new shopping experience built to inspire.”
Sponsored | BD+C University Course | Jan 30, 2022
Optimized steel deck design
This course provides an overview of structural steel deck design and the ways to improve building performance and to reduce total-project costs.
Laboratories | Jan 28, 2022
3 must-know strategies for developers in today’s life sciences industry
While the life sciences industry had been steadily growing, this growth exploded when the pandemic arrived—and there is no indication that this lightning-fast pace will slow down any time soon.
Cultural Facilities | Jan 27, 2022
Growth in content providers creates new demand for soundstage facilities
Relativity Architects' Partner Tima Bell discusses how the explosion in content providers has outpaced the availability of TV and film production soundstages in North America and Europe.
Sponsored | Webinar | Jan 27, 2022
On-demand webinar: Open plenum design with baffles
With their vast, airy aesthetics, open-plan interiors offer a feel that can inspire and support occupants. But they can also create acoustical challenges that negate the effects of all that beauty. Baffles are an ideal ceiling design solution that address both aesthetics and performance.
Architects | Jan 27, 2022
Gensler’s latest design forecast is also a call to action
The firm urges the AEC industry to take the lead in creating a fairer, cleaner built environment that faces many obstacles.
Architects | Jan 26, 2022
HMC Architects Welcomes New Director of Sustainability
The Sacramento studio of leading national architecture and design firm HMC Architects has announced the appointment of new Director of Sustainability Jennifer Wehling, who joined in December
Market Data | Jan 26, 2022
2022 construction forecast: Healthcare, retail, industrial sectors to lead ‘healthy rebound’ for nonresidential construction
A panel of construction industry economists forecasts 5.4 percent growth for the nonresidential building sector in 2022, and a 6.1 percent bump in 2023.
Sponsored | Steel Buildings | Jan 25, 2022
Structural Game Changer: Winning solution for curved-wall gymnasium design
Sponsored | Steel Buildings | Jan 25, 2022
Multifamily + Hospitality: Benefits of building in long-span composite floor systems
Long-span composite floor systems provide unique advantages in the construction of multi-family and hospitality facilities. This introductory course explains what composite deck is, how it works, what typical composite deck profiles look like and provides guidelines for using composite floor systems. This is a nano unit course.