We think of buildings as edifices that in their finest iterations connect with the environment and community around them. But buildings are really about people and the most dynamic buildings affect people personally.
But ask Matt Sutter, AIA, LEED AP, of SoL HARRIS/DAY ARCHITECTURE, North Canton, Ohio, principal-in-charge and project manager of the recently opened building, what is the most successful aspect, and you won’t hear about the architectural elements. “I think it’s the opportunity to bring culture change and bring people together inside the building,” he says. “It just really improved their work environment. I think there’s going to be a lot of things that occur because people are bumping into each other and are exposed to one another more frequently.” In short, the engineers are in an environment that facilitates idea sharing and inspires innovation through collaboration.
The Building
The Technology Center comprises two wings that intersect in a central, three-story atrium with a 
towering curtainwall topped by a dramatic, white overhanging canopy. The south wing houses offices, while the north wing contains the labs. The west elevation of the south wing features a sawtoothed floor plan that allowed SoL HARRIS/DAY to use the site more efficiently and get more light into the interior of the building.
Bridgestone also wanted to showcase the capabilities of its Indianapolis-based Firestone Buildings Products Co. division, so the materials used in the building demonstrate its full functionality and innovative building technology.
Stainless steel wall panels (along with windows) cover the sawtoothed side. “The stainless steel on the southwest side will fight the heat gain and reflect the heat,” says Sutter. On the east side, near the atrium, the stainless steel panels make the transition from exterior sheeting to interior decoration on the atrium walls. It visually breaks down the barrier between indoors and outdoors, and makes the occupants feel part of the larger environment.
The Geist Co., Cleveland, installed the panels, and owner Thom Geist says that the shingle-look on the panels required quite a bit of fabrication for the trim and corner pieces. “It was a lot of little pieces,” he says, “going around corners and all. It all fit together very nicely.”
Most of the paneling is aluminum and includes the column covers, some of which are more than 42 inches in diameter and 30 feet high, as well as the canopy panels and exposed fastener ribbed panels on the penthouses that house mechanical equipment.
The Site
The building sits on what was a large sloping grassy area. It was important to the stakeholders to reduce the amount of water runoff, so SoL HARRIS/DAY designed water catchment systems. The collected water is used to irrigate the landscaping.
Blending the building even more with the outdoors is a vegetative roof that covers the first floor. Because the site is sloping, it appears as a groundlevel area off the atrium, and workers use the roof as a garden patio.
That outdoor connection extends to the lighting design. The east elevation features Firestone aluminum sunscreens that effectively shade the interior from the harsh summer sun. On the interior, light shelves bounce the incoming light to reflect it inward, exposing all the occupants to the natural light.
For a building focused on developing new technologies, which can seem less than humanistic, it is the connection between the occupants and their environment that make the building successful.
