Aerzen USA Named As One of Pennsylvania's Five Coolest Buildings
Keystone Edge Magazine Named Aerzen USA In Pennsylvania’s Five Coolest Buildings List. Distinguished juries usually confer architectural honors after lofty deliberations. So when Keystone Edge asked me to select the five recent coolest buildings in Pennsylvania, I felt giddy with power and not a little intimidated.
But the task turned out not to be so daunting. These five structures – by no means, an inclusive list – exemplify the considerations on which architecture is judged: composition, detailing, use of materials, context and, increasingly, sustainability. And they're undeniably cool.
The fact that they were all designed by Pennsylvania architects was a happy coincidence and a reminder of the abundance of architectural and design talent right here in the Commonwealth. The fact that they all successfully relate to their surroundings – four of them amid or incorporating much older structures – is a reminder that our aging built environment offers opportunity for meaningful new uses, astounding juxtapositions and brilliant design.
Aerzen USA HQ, Coatesville
Every child knows how the big bad wolf huffed and puffed and blew down the foolish first little pig's straw house. Things did not go well after that.
But straw's reputation as a building material has been rehabilitated since the Three Little Pigs. Today, straw bale construction is a well-regarded green building practice. The bales are inexpensive, make use of what is often a farm waste product and are highly insulating.
Philadelphia's RE:Vision Architecture incorporated straw bale walls from straw grown within 10 miles of the Coatesville site of its Aerzen USA headquarters. It is the first commercial application of straw bale construction in Pennsylvania, according to the Delaware Valley Green Building Council.
Aerzen, based in Germany, is a maker of blowers, compressors and pumps, not a use typically associated with design excellence. But the Aerzen building "creates a statement of possibility for light manufacturing facilities that are environmentally responsible, worker-friendly, cost competitive and architecturally significant," says RE:Vision.
The project, completed in 2008, comprises 8,000 square feet of office space and 34,000 square feet of manufacturing, shop and storage space. A LEED Gold certified structure, it features "earth tube" geo-thermal heating and cooling, day lighting, recycled wood beams, concrete with 40% recycled content and 100% on-site stormwater infiltration.
Other Buildings Named:
Emerald Art Glass House, Pittsburgh
Edgar N. Putnam Event Pavilion, Doylestown
Levitt Pavilion, Bethlehem
Onion Flats, Philadelphia
Person in charge:
Ralph Wilton
Marketing Manager
Phone: 610-380-6367
Fax: 610-380-0278
rwilton@aerzenusa.com
AERZEN USA CORPORATION
108 Independence Way
Coatesville, PA 19320
USA
www.aerzenusa.com
