Crown Corporate Center

This corporate office complex consists of five Tilt-Up buildings ranging in size from two to four stories. The site is at the crossing of two major interstate freeways, so the buildings were designed to take advantage of this exposure.

Large-scale gestures break up the mass of the buildings and can be applied to the buildings even though they are of varying size. The four-story building was designed as a ductile moment frame systems that allowed for a large amount of glass for the office floors, which provide natural light and views of the landscape.

The 14-inch thick panels for this facility add to the sound insulation from the adjacent freeway.

This building also features an aluminum-clad overhang on the top level that provides solar protection for the offices and creates a distinctive architectural identity when viewed from the freeway.

The design approach for these buildings was carefully to design the basic Tilt-Up panel and to maximize the area of vision glass within the structural limitations. Spandrel glass was used to add visual appearance.

Tilt-Up enabled special architectural features at the entries that feature two-story lobbies, glass curtain wall, accent walls of natural slate and a recessed wall of punched windows that provide a strong accent color and contrast with the typical panels. These elements help to break up the typical box into an interesting composition of interlocking volumes with varying window patterns, materials and colors.

Nearly fully leased, the project has gained recognition, including an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Merit Award, because of the unique use of Tilt-Up and architectural design.