Title: Amada - Carolina Technical Center
Location of Proejct: High Point, NC
Project Completion Date: November 2020
Firm Name: Gray Architects and Engineers, PSC

Short Description: The Amada Carolina Technical Center was envisioned as a sales pavilion dedicated to solving the needs of manufacturing clients throughout the United States and is considered Amada’s east coast headquarters. This 62,000 sf building is built on a 43-acre site that houses not only the Technical Center but also an ancillary Manufacturing Facility constructed at the same time. The Technical Center is conventional steel sheathed in architectural insulated metal panels and large expanses of curtain wall which speaks to the precision and respect of materials and site that is the essence of Japanese building and manufacturing.

Architect's Statement: One of three similar facilities in the United States for a private Japanese company, the facility was envisioned as a ‘jewel box’ dedicated to hosting clients for Amada’s advanced manufacturing, precision sheet metal manufacturing equipment sales while a dedicated training team simultaneously provided tools for success to each individual client. Located on a campus in a newly developed industrial corridor, the Carolina Technical Center was constructed simultaneously with an adjacent state-of-the art manufacturing facility.

The facility and grounds were designed to align with the formal Japanese tradition of arrival, procession and hospitality, all in the context of creating precise sheet metal manufacturing and automation solutions. The patterned paved surface signifies arrival with the extended entrance canopy jutting across the drive that links the building to the landscape. Visitors then move over an IPE clad cast-in-place bridge spanning a terraced water feature that wraps the corner of the building. In keeping with traditional influences, the water moves through a series of cascading pools, some that are still, some that splash and cascade, offering an auditory experience of the water. At the transition point of the bridge, where the visitor is neither on land nor in the building, extended stainless weirs on the canopy focus water during rain events to spill over the weirs and into pools at each side of the bridge.

Guests enter the building through a compressed concrete cast-in-place grotto like cube, which suddenly opens to an expansive 2-story atrium entry. This entry signifies the point of entry for a visitor and reinforces the relationship between past and future.

Once into the 2-story entry atrium space, guests are on axis with a monumental stair. This stair crosses over plantings and alongside a 32’ tall water feature with the Owner’s logo. As guests move up the walnut, steel and glass stair, they are within arm’s reach of the water and may choose to trail their fingers through the thin sheet of water that gently cascades down the face of the feature. The visual alignment continues with building elements small and large and from floor-to-ceiling, promoting the precision that is represented in Amada’s advanced manufacturing machines.

Immediately to the right of the entry grotto is a sunken seating area. Guests who descend into this leave the porcelain tiled entry atrium, descending into the sunken seating area and onto earth-colored walnut flooring. Once seated, visitors in this area are on eye level with the exterior water feature and a Japanese-inspired Zen Garden. Bordering the garden, IPE screening extends the space of the interior outward through the double-height curtain wall and into the garden beyond. Breaks in the screening focus views out to the Japanese cherry blossom tree lined walking path leading to the manufacturing building.

Plan elements wrap around the Machine Exhibit area – a 2-story curtain wall enclosed cathedral of manufacturing. The transparency of the space allows natural light to permeate the exhibit area and visually gives access of the contents to those who pass by while interior lighting transforms the exhibit room into a beacon at night for the industrial park where it’s located. Interior spaces dedicated to visitor functions rim the exhibit area and utilize floor-to-ceiling glass, allowing access to natural light for the building interior as well as a visual link between clients and equipment solutions.

Guest areas on the 2nd floor utilize the same transparency, keeping the views to the machine exhibit area front and center. Open to the entrance atrium, guests are afforded views not only to the equipment exhibit area but also across the entry atrium and out to the garden and landscape beyond.

Functionally, the 2nd floor is dedicated to gathering and hospitality. A banquet area, a catering kitchen and (2) private dining rooms offer space for celebration. The ‘Japanese Room’ is an intimate gathering area that harkens to traditional Japanese dining with views to the landscape and cherry blossom trees. Functioning Soji screens at the windows can be utilized to focus on interior spaces. The ‘Western Room’ is based on traditional American hospitality, offering fire-place focused seating as well as separate dining area with conference table and bistro-inspired catering area. Views from this room focus on the adjacent manufacturing facility.

Employee areas highlight procession and offer strategically placed views toward the machine exhibit area, the adjacent manufacturing building, and at the end-of-view corridors or stairways.