THE FORM IS THE FUNCTION
Project: ASHRAE Global Headquarters, Peachtree Corners, Georgia
Architect: Houser Walker Architecture
Transforming a plain looking pre-cast concrete structure, set in a non-descript suburban office park, into a global corporate headquarters seems counterintuitive. After all, the thought of a corporate headquarters brings to mind visions of a flashy office building in an urban setting. But for ASHRAE—a global organization advancing human well-being through sustainable technology for the built environment—and for the architect, Houser Walker, that was precisely the point. Creating a beacon of high design that speaks of the company’s mission.
The beauty of this adaptive re-use project is not just about the aesthetics. What's most striking about this project is its intention; it strives to be both a net-zero energy building and a model for the numerous older buildings whose time to renovate has come. While new construction of carbon neutral buildings may make a big splash, the reality is that transforming the thousands of ordinary existing structures so that they will drastically reduce their carbon footprint is essential to substantially reducing the 40% of primary energy consumed by buildings.
So when the photovoltaic array is installed on the roof of the ASHRAE Global Headquarters in the Spring of 2021, this Houser Walker designed adaptive re-use project will have achieved full net zero energy, lighting the way for so many aging office buildings to achieve their own net-zero energy future.