Autotropolis: Innovation in Automotive & Transportation Facilities

AUTOTROPOLIS Innovation in Automotive & Transportation Facilities

Mobility is what drives us. We not only enable people to move from A to B but we also touch their hearts. Being mobile is and always will be a basic human need. Mobility drives progress. It gives people a sense of freedom and individuality. It brings growth, employment and prosperity.

Dr. Norbert Reithofer at the Annual General Meeting of BMW AG

Sport

AUTOTROPOLIS Innovation in Automotive & Transportation Facilities

Retail

Office

Parking

Travel

Education & Training

Parts & Manufacturing

Established in 1963, LS3P is a multi-disciplinary firm offering architecture, interiors, planning, and historic preservation services to a wide variety of clients nationwide. Central to all regions of the Southeast with offices in Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Columbia, and Greenville, SC; Charlotte, Raleigh, and Wilmington, NC; and Savannah, GA. We are committed to bringing state-of-the-art design, technology, and expertise of a strong regional firm closer to our clients on a local level. With a staff of over 330 employees, we have the resources to offer total design capabilities from site selection to occupancy, yet we are small enough to give personal attention to each client.

The editor of DesignIntelligence has called LS3P “the most local of the global firms and the most ‘world-class’ of the locals.” We have enjoyed a long legacy of design excellence, with over 560 design awards across diverse practice areas.

Our mission is to “engage, design, and transform.” We believe in collaboration, innovation, and building lasting relationships with our clients, and we are deeply committed to the communities we serve.

Today, the firm is led by CEO Thompson E. Penney, who started at the firm as a high school intern; Executive Vice President for Practice Katherine N. Peele; and Executive Vice President for Business George E. Temple, IV. Major practice areas include aviation and transportation, office, residential, K-12 education, healthcare, higher education, hospitality, worship, and federal projects.

This collection of LS3P projects highlights automotive and transportation-related designs.

Research & Testing

GKN Driveline North American Headquarters (Getrag) MAIDEN, NC

Getrag, a German automobile transmission manufacturer, expanded its plant operations to include a high profile two-story office building adjacent to an existing plant. The initial concept drawings and engineering were developed in Germany.

LS3P’s design team preserved the German building technologies and aesthetics, adapted them to US codes and construction techniques, and translated European sustainability requirements to US Green Building Council levels while collaborating closely with the German team throughout the project’s implementation.

The 27,771 SF project included complexities of demolition, retrofit of the existing plant, and construction of a new office building adjacent to the existing plant. The design emphasized is employee comfort: the ceilings are 11’-0” tall with all glass facades, and all regularly occupied spaces are less than 30’-0” from exterior glass.

The facades feature automated shade devices with solar-tracking capability. An 8’-0” wide covered, cantilevered balcony wraps the two glass facades o provide additional shading and an employee amenity. First floor spaces adjacent to the plant have glass doors and windows to create a sense of unity between office and plant workers. Second floor conference rooms and all regularly occupied spaces on the plant side of the office building have clerestory glass for additional natural light.

The significant use of daylight reduces the need for artificial lighting throughout the new office building. The project achieved LEED® Silver certification.

The company was acquired by GKN Driveline in 2011.

Charleston International Airport Parking Garage & Pedestrian Walkway CHARLESTON, SC

This conceptual design for Charleston County Aviation Authority will re-imagine the airport entry process to create a pleasant, seamless traveler experience. A new parking garage, surface lot, roadway improvements, and associated walkways will streamline the process of arriving at the airport and create a sense of arrival. The new design will help passengers navigate easily, locate the correct lane, identify available parking, and enjoy a short walk to the terminals. The design will likewise facilitate returning to the car and a smooth exit and payment process.

The improvements will prioritize pedestrian safety, ease of use, and a welcoming experience. The design will draw from a materials palette, scale, and form which emphasize natural, human-scale elements appropriate to Charleston’s built environment. From a well-lit, attractive, and quiet garage interior to thoughtfully landscaped processional routes, the improvements will provide an inviting gateway between the city and the airport.

Integrated technology throughout will help to reduce traveler stress and maximize convenience. In addition to graphics and signage, creative lighting elements at stairwells will highlight vertical circulation to assist with wayfinding and contribute to a memorable, pleasant traveler experience. The design will maintain the easyto-use, friendly, and attractive atmosphere already in place while accommodating growth in airport capacity and increased need for parking.

Honda Plant Expansion TIMMONSVILLE, SC

The 47,000 SF addition to the existing Honda Building Number 2 contains a 28,000 SF conditioned production area to house a new packing conveying line.

The facility also includes a 19,000 SF unconditioned secure storage zone to allow staging of completed all-terrain side-by-side vehicles prior to packing for shipment to distributors and covered and enclosed secure walk-way area between the buildings.

Charlotte Motor Speedway Headquarters CHARLOTTE, NC

This corporate headquarters project provided 40,000 SF of office space and 40,000 SF of operations and speculative space. Siting the building against a 40-foot earth berm and placing the Speedway Club over precast concrete grandstands provided unique design challenges. The design team capitalized on the movement of people up to the grandstand level by providing a vehicular and pedestrian ramp to the second level ticket sales office, gift shop and theater. The Speedway Club was placed on the same level as the existing VIP suites to maximize circulation and site lines, providing grandstand vantage of the track. The design also included facilities for a 10,000 SF private club with 15,000 SF of ancillary meeting and banquet room space on two interconnected floors.

Smith Tower, the octagonal headquarters building, is the signature element of what is now known as Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The tower is clad with metal panels finished with automotive paint and held in place with automobile gasketing. Blue Ford tinted glass and bright aluminum mullions reinforce the auto imagery, making the Smith Tower concourse one of the most recognized images in NASCAR.

Clemson University ICAR Campus Center for Emerging Technologies | Research One | Management Tower & Parking Deck GREENVILLE, SC

The Center for Emerging Technologies provides 60,000 SF of state-of-the-art research space on the CU-ICAR campus. As the first multi-tenant building at Clemson University, the center is home to both academic and corporate partners in the transportation, technology, and energy sectors. The public/private partnership seeks to foster the development of automotive technologies alongside academic research in this “automotive research business cluster.� The building is designed to be an ecosystem for these creative collisions, with spaces designed for overlap and informal exchanges among users to provide opportunities for connection and innovation.

This 3-story building includes a 25,000 SF high-bay research lab area on the ground floor and flexible office space on the upper levels. Understanding that technologies evolve and that a high-performance building must evolve with them, the space contains raised accessible flooring to accommodate HVAC, power systems and communications infrastructure to ensure flexibility for future uses.

The sleek exterior mirrors the facility’s cutting-edge internal activities with highefficiency glass, metal wall panels, and solar screening.

Charlotte-Douglas International Airport Rental Car Facility & Hourly Parking Deck CHARLOTTE, NC

A product of the 2010 CLT Facility Master Plan sessions by LS3P and The Wilson Group, the CLT Rental Car Facility and Hourly Parking Deck is a seven-level, 3.2 million SF post-tensioned cast in place concrete structure. The four upper levels provide 4,400 spaces of premium hourly parking with the three lower levels containing a full service, multi-brand consolidated rental car facility located directly in front of Charlotte Douglas International Airport’s main terminal.

The siting and orientation of this project prioritizes proximity to the main terminal building while accommodating current and future infrastructure and roadway alignments, the new upper and lower passenger and commercial vehicle lane expansion project, both underground and overhead pedestrian walkways to the current main terminal, and future main terminal expansions. The lowest level of the parking deck is designed to accommodate an automated people mover and transfer station.

Levels 1-3 are optimally designed for the operation of multiple rental car brands including level 1 quick turn-around facilities. This QTA includes 56 fueling dispensers, eight automated car wash bays (expandable to 10), vacuum systems and car fluid distribution systems. Levels 2 and 3 are designed for rental car ready return (expandable to level 4) for each brand, and the twolevel, 30,000 square foot ‘Class A’ rental car customer service facility directly accessible at grade level to customers walking from the main terminal.

Vertical vehicular circulation is provided via separate double stranded helices, one up and one down, which maintain separate drive paths for rental car and hourly parking customers.

Baker Motors Complex CHARLESTON, SC

The Baker Motors Complex originally consisted of five buildings of varied design, age, and use. This project connected the new and old buildings created a new single U-shaped building pad totaling approximately 54,000 SF. Diverse uses scattered though the building range from high-end auto sales in a sleek, clean and quiet environment to an attached car-wash and 39 automobile service bays. The varied uses of the complex required that special care be given to adjoining walls to protect different occupancies from the threat of fire, fumes and noise. At the same time new waiting and sales areas were to have new windows into service areas where people could watch the work being done on their vehicles for a high-quality, worry-free experience.

The design connected an existing single-story service building to a two-story waiting/sales and accounting building, and connected this building to another single-story service building. The existing service building and the new service building, approximately 12,000 SF each, were programmed to connect to two separate existing showrooms of approximately 5,000 to 6,000 SF in area with an enclosed service drive.

NASCAR Tower CHARLOTTE, NC

NASCAR Tower is a 19-story office tower anchoring the southeast corner of the full city block development that is the Hall of Fame Complex and is a landmark in the Charlotte skyline. Located at the intersection of the Caldwell Street freeway interchange, the 415,000 SF tower serves as a gateway to the city and blends with iconic design of the Hall of Fame that captures the speed and spectacle of the sport. The tower form follows the lead of the Hall of Fame, consisting of a curvilinear metal and glass curtainwall contrasted with a rectangular precast concrete armature. The building is clad with clear, radiant low-E glass and precast panels and houses the state-of-the-art energy management systems to optimize energy consumption.

The tower is positioned between the new NASCAR Hall of Fame museum, a new convention center ballroom, and adjacent studio production space. Twenty-five percent of the building is dedicated to NASCAR Images, the internal production and creative services company of NASCAR. The third level of the office tower connects the tenants to the production studio, the ballroom and other areas of the complex. A covered structured parking garage accommodates 1,000 vehicles.

The design is a collaboration of LS3P, Architect of Record, and Pei Cobb Freed, Designer of Record.

UNCC Duke Centennial Hall Motorsports Engineering Lab CHARLOTTE, NC

One of the first two buildings to be built at the gateway of the new Charlotte Institute Campus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, this 112,000 SF classroom and office building houses the Center for Precision Design and Metrology as well as program space for motor sports engineering, mechanical engineering, thermal/bio-engineering and other technology-rich curricula. The building occupies a prominent location on the elliptical green which anchors the campus. The classically-organized interior features two-story colonnade surrounding an elliptical lobby.

Sustainability is a hallmark of the building’s design; strategies included the use of partly recycled materials such as steel, aluminum, glass and asphalt. The orientation and site topography help to minimize solar heat gain and maximize efficiency of the heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems. The Center for Precision Design and Metrology, which has complex requirements for its vibrationand light-sensitive laboratories, is built into the hillside to maximize insulation and isolation. Insulated low-E glazing is used throughout, with electronically-controlled lighting using multiple and zonal settings.

Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corporation Campus Technical & Communications Centers | Administrative Building | Dynamometer Lab GREENSBORO, NC

The Volvo corporate campus features a complex of compatibly-scaled buildings linked together by a series of external and internal linear circulation spines. Buildings include the Technical Center, the Communications Center, the Administrative Office Building, and a Dynamometer Lab, all with compatible exterior palettes of brick and glass with stone accents.

The 136,000 SF Technical Center provides approximately 58,500 SF of space for offices, and the remaining for experimental engineering shop space. A raised floor underneath the office space supports flexible power and communication distribution. The two-story shop area houses garage space, a clay studio, testing facilities, shipping/ receiving, and loading dock facilities.

The Communications Center with a drive-through entry plaza and exterior truck display serves as the front door and reception center for the entire complex. In addition to the exterior truck display, the Center houses an interior truck showroom, training and meeting rooms, and dining facilities and acts as the visual connector to the other campus buildings.

The brick and glass two-story office portion connects to the 25’ clear height shop portion with a glass skylight galleria. The galleria acts as an organizing element between the different functions, provides natural light to the office spaces, and serves as the major circulation spine within the building.

NASCAR Technical Institute CHARLOTTE, NC

This 145,000 SF training center designed for Universal Technical Institute Inc., the exclusive educational strategic partner of NASCAR, offers technicians and mechanics training specific to the auto racing industry with hands-on experience in engines and repair, fuel and ignition systems, power trains, brakes, transmissions, electronics and diagnostic equipment.

In addition to serving as a recruiting tool and fan destination site, the Institute accommodates 135 instructors and up to 1,800 students per year. The design, inspired by local race team facilities, allows students to learn in a professional setting. The simple, rectangular footprint allows for flexibility of plan, while the economical repetitively-scored concrete panels create a strong visual elements at the building’s main public entrances. Finishes throughout the space were selected for their durability and visual impact.

Diamler Freightliner Corporation Custom Chassis Logistics Building | Parking, Loading & Delivery Operations GAFFNEY, SC

This new facility for Freightliner Classic Chassis (FCC), a division of the Germanowned Daimler Automotive, allowed the client to expand its truck chassis operations and include a new Logistics Center adjacent to its existing Gaffney, SC assembly plant. LS3P conducted several feasibility studies to determine which of four possible sites would be the most plausible while maintaining continuous day-to-day operations. The LS3P design team worked closely with the local FCC team and Daimler’s Portland, OR office to develop a site plan and a building design that could be expanded twofold in the future, and could be incorporated into an upcoming FCCC Gaffney office expansion.

The 200,000 SF facility features two office cores, one for FCC Logistics Center use and another to house a Vocational Rehab Center serving the local community.

The layout supports a possible second floor addition as the center expands. The main logistics facility provides 30’ of clear height, incorporating over 112,600 SF of logistics parts and assembly storage and over 55,000 SF of “just-in-time” component kitting assembly space. Material handling is routed through eight receiving bays and fifteen shipping docks, with an additional holding yard for fifty trailers.

The post and beam structure is based on a 50’ x 50’ grid and clad with an insulated precast exterior wall system. The southwest façade serves as the primary entrance and features an insulated curtain wall glazing system, ACM entry arch, canopy thresholds, and a charcoal corrugated interlocking metal panel exterior skin that incorporates both a diagonal fold and a high entry canopy to shade the precast panels. The curtain wall allows daylighting deep into the interior spaces.

Joe Gibbs Racing HUNTERSVILLE. NC

When Joe Gibbs Racing decided to make significant improvements to its hightech motor sports facility, the team had three primary goals: sustaining R&D production, providing a destination point for fans, and meeting the demands of corporate sponsors. The design solution included visitor space, fabrication space, and support space.

The public enters the facility is through a shallow two-story atrium with floor-toceiling glass trophy cases and race cars on display. An adjoining viewing gallery overlooks a 30,000 SF prep shop for the fabrication facility. A 100-seat stepped theater/auditorium accommodates training for individual race teams, meetings, and Gibbs’ motivational speaking engagements.

The 86,000 SF production, R&D, and fabrication facility is located a level below the ground floor of the pavilion and features a 10,000 SF machine shop with 3-D computer lathe machinery, a 10,000 SF integrated testing facility housing a dynacam, and other individual testing components. The space includes a paint shop, body shop, and prep shop. The second floor of the pavilion houses the corporate offices; amenities include an employee athletic facility with a gym, lockers and showers and a dual-function employee break room and catering kitchen adjacent to the auditorium.

Schaeffler Group USA Headquarters FORT MILL, SC

Schaeffler USA, a leading manufacturer of bearings worldwide and a renowned supplier to the automotive industry, needed to expand program space on its existing campus. The design solution included a new three-level North American headquarters building, a manufacturing plant expansion, and a new campus entry.

The new 64,180Â SF headquarters building is strategically sited to relate to the existing office building. The top two levels feature open offices, conference rooms, and an employee break room, while the first floor houses a 6,300 SF dining and servery area that opens onto a landscaped plaza overlooking a natural wooded area with lake views The lowest level also features a 2,200 SF training room that can be subdivided into three separate smaller rooms.

A 34,730 SF expansion of Plant 3 adds manufacturing capacity for stamping, heat treatment, and assembly for thrust bearings used in automatic transmissions and includes space for raw materials storage, manufacturing, office, conference, break room and new loading docks.

The exterior materials palette features precast concrete panels, curtainwall and storefront glazing, and metal panels. The predominant building volume is precast concrete with ribbon windows, while a metal panel cladding creates the spine of the building to define the core functions and provide screening for the rooftop mechanical equipment. The defining feature of the building is a cantilevered precast volume with a large expanse of curtainwall glazing that appears to float above the plaza below.

Center City Green CHARLOTTE, NC

LS3P’s Center City Green was selected in a design competition for an efficient, cost effective, 1,400-car parking structure with 12,000 SF of ground level retail that would serve Bank of America employees, satisfy urban design issues, address immediate context, and achieve LEED® certification. The irregular two-acre site (part rectilinear and part curvilinear) is surrounded on three sides by public streets, a light rail line, cultural landmarks, the Spectrum Arena, and ImaginOn. The above-ground parking facility has 12 parking levels and a clearance of 7’4”.

The primary functional feature of the deck is a double-thread “express helix,” in which one revolution accomplishes two levels in height. Elements such as the glass-backed elevators and glazed stair towers function as vertical gestures to activate a normally static facade (that of the parking deck) and create a compatible scale with the arena.

Given the large number of vehicles in the parking deck, a complex system of computerized signage and gating is helps the parking deck to function efficiently at all times. The helix functions in a bi-directional way with all traffic flow up-bound in the morning and down-bound in the afternoon.

The helix hides a cistern that collects rainwater for irrigation onsite. The deck also provides 5% preferred parking for hybrid or zero-emission vehicles. Bicycle racks with adjacent showering room en-courage alternative means of transportation. A second phase will add residential housing.

Myrtle Beach International Airport Terminal Capacity Enancement Program Rental Car Facility | Terminal Expansion & Renovation | Parking Garage Study MYRTLE BEACH, SC

Aviation demand in the Grand Strand area called for improvements in both capacity and level of service for the Myrtle Beach International Airport’s airfield, passenger terminal area, and ground access systems serving the airport. LS3P and Giuliani Associates Architects spearheaded the design and delivery of the terminal capacity enhancement program.

Design priorities included direct and free-flowing passenger circulation, a dynamic new wayfinding signage system for passenger orientation, the replacement of outdated systems, conformance with life safety and building code requirements for wind and seismic design criteria, and secure separation of passengers from the general public.

The blue and green colored glass and metal panel systems of the façades reflect the South Carolina context of the beaches and golf along the Grand Strand, while the iconic roofline pays homage to the nearby ocean.

Airside and landside improvements included a new 240,000 SF terminal and concourse, increasing the number of gates from 7 to 13. Other upgrades included renovations to the existing terminal façade, installation of new passenger boarding bridges, reconstruction of the terminal apron pavement, Taxiway ‘A’ expansion and reconstruction, a new rental car customer service facility with a connecting canopy, and a covered exit plaza with employee break room and facilities. Future plans include the design of a 1200-space structured parking garage.

Charlotte-Douglas International Airport Parking Decks CHARLOTTE, NC

In association with The Wilson Group, LS3P designed, produced and administered the construction contract for the new 6,000-car, East and West Daily parking decks within the Charlotte Douglas International Airport vehicular circulation loop system. To ensure that the siting of the decks would complement several longrange planning approaches, the LS3P team developed several models for the ultimate build-out of the mid-level terminal complex addressing aircraft circulation, ramp layouts, taxiway access, runway utilization, a second terminal building and curbside system, a hotel complex, off-site consolidated rental car facilities, future I- 485 connections and an automated people mover system (APM) interface to lightrail transit.

The airport officials wanted the parking decks to extend beyond the boundaries of conventional design. Perforated metal panels, backlit in blue, match the airport´s accent color, provide visibility to meet airport safety requirements and revealing the truss structure. The perforated stainless steel skin allows natural ventilation, eliminating the need for fans and ductwork, and provides two distinct themes dependent on the time of day. During the daylight hours, the stainless steel panels reference the profile of an airplane wing to convey a high-tech language. At night, the illumination and reflectance of the accent lighting portrays the deck facade in a more theatrical sense. The underside of each level is painted white, enhancing security while reducing the need for artificial lighting and thus reducing lighting energy costs. The decks feature an automated parking management system.

The team has designed five airport parking structures for a total of 19,200 spaces.

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