Project: Amcol International corporate headquarters.

Location: Hoffman Estates, IL.

Product: Custom teak stair treads.    

Designer: Gensler, Chicago.

Jay Longo, of Gensler Chicago, discusses the LEED Silver Amcol headquarters project, a 72,000 square foot, two-story office and laboratory building on a seven-acre site in a sustainable development.

What makes it special?
The project preserves and protects large areas of wetlands and natural habitat. The site design features many landscape innovations such as rain gardens, green roofs, and bioswales that treat and manage all of the storm water on site. The building design features several green technologies including daylight harvesting, heat recovery, radiant floors, and reclaimed materials.

What were the goals for the project?
Four goals were established for the project - showcase Amcol’s product innovations and processes, create a destination for internal and external training and meetings, design a facility to encourage collaboration between scientists and administrative staff, and demonstrate environmental stewardship.

Why the choice of reclaimed wood?
We chose to use reclaimed teak for the monumental stair within the atrium that held the displays of Amcol’s products because of its story. Amcol produces many different types of absorptive products using bentonite clay, including diapers, cosmetics, building waterproofing and kitty litter. The design features stories of how Amcol researches and invents the various processes to make these materials by creating displays with the raw material and the finished products. Story telling is a key tool to create showcase destinations for companies. Reclaimed wood is a material that can also tell a compelling story of its journey and past use. Thus, all featured elements in this space had a story to tell to connect the design to the project goals.

Why use wood in general?
As an architect, I have observed our industry trend from the use of regionally-based, craft-oriented building materials to the selection of nationally or internationally-sourced, prefabricated products. This trend has weakened the local sense of place and quality of buildings that speak to the local craft and context. Using wood allows me to express both regional design influences and display a higher level of craft that does not require customizing a prefabricated system to create a unique solution. Wood becomes the perfect foil to machined or processed materials such as metal, glass, and stone; connecting the design to both the local context and the natural world.

Why sustainable design?
Creating a sense of place and connection to the natural world has always been an underlying theme of my work. The opportunity to affect social change and create positive environments to build social responsibility was architecture’s great attraction for me. Sustainable design is one aspect of architecture which can expand the scope of the design’s influence to make a larger and positive difference in our world. Since becoming a LEED AP professional in 2002, I have used numerous green strategies such as green roofs, natural ventilation, day lighting, rainwater harvesting, and use of innovative green materials in the design of different USGBC LEED-rated buildings. These buildings include office buildings, research laboratories, hotels and community centers. I have been invited to participate in numerous speaking engagements and sustainable design programs with the University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago Historical Society, on National Public Radio, and with local Chicago television stations.