Mosaic Florida Operations Center

To increase their employees' quality of life, the owners of the Mosaic Company, one of the world's leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients, created a new headquarters that offers more than 90 percent natural light exposure, courtesy of large expanses of glass held in place by wide Tilt-Up panels.

The large panels, which exceed 60 feet in height and weigh 190,000 pounds each, required 16 lift inserts and up to nine super 42-foot braces per panel. Return pilasters were incorporated into the main panels to create architectural relief while providing structural integrity. The pilasters were overlapped and hidden behind adjacent panels to maximize the ratio of glazing on elevations.

On each side of the front-entry curtain wall, U-shaped panels, poured monolithically to eliminate any visible seams or joints, give the illusion of a 3-foot by 6-inch solid concrete element. Tile accents were post-applied on the exterior ground-floor Tilt-Up panels, exposing interior panel areas accented with aluminum corners.

Thanks to the highly reflective, low-heat-gain glazing, which decreases utility demand, and the recycling of 85 percent of construction materials, the project received LEED Gold Certification. Mosaic will employ 400 people at the new facility, which will anchor the Village Center at FishHawk Ranch mixed-use development.