Project Description

This is the second project that Pelds Design Services developed for Underground Magnetics. The company experienced faster than expected growth, so the Pelds team was asked to design a larger facility to accommodate that growth as well as future anticipated expansion.

The site is a 9.5 acre property set next to a large quarry pond on a former tree nursery. It was important to the owner to place the building in a way to capture views of the existing pond. As a part of the storm water management system, a new pond was designed on the site. In addition, the owner wanted to keep as many of the trees from the former nursery on site. Nearly two hundred trees were moved to other locations on site to allow for the building pad and the new pond to be developed. The result is a building that is nestled in the trees with dramatic views to the new pond, as well as the existing quarry pond to the east.

The design team worked together with the ownership team to develop a comprehensive building plan and exterior design for the project. Direction from the owner was to create a timeless and straightforward design, provide enough space to accommodate future growth, and maintain views to the site. The owner also had experience developing buildings in other countries, so they decided that the office portion of the building should be primarily built of stone that they would import from India. The result is a facility that includes roughly 18,500 sf of office space built of granite panels, glass curtainwalls, and metal trim, attached to 20,000 sf of warehouse and production space built from precast concrete panels.

Once schematic design was complete, the Pelds team helped the owner select a Construction Manager to join the team during the final stages of the design. With input from the owner, the Pelds team invited four Construction Management teams to interview with the owner. After the interviews, The Weitz Company was asked to join the team and manage the construction of the project. Bringing the Construction Manager onto the team early proved invaluable as the Covid pandemic hit and building materials became increasingly hard to procure. The Design and Construction teams worked closely to provide early bid packages which allowed the team to secure many of the long lead items as lead times became increasingly challenging.

The project is currently under construction and is expected to be complete in early 2022.