Lauth

Track record┬áNASCAR Plaza, a new addition to the skyline in Charlotte, North Carolina, is both an international architectural icon and a pinnacle of project management and green design for owner and developer Lauth, as John OÔÇÖHanlon finds out. Lauth is renowned for its industrial and office developments and as the builder, owner and manager of countless projects across the United States. Since its founding in 1977 it has grown to become one of the largest real estate development companies in the country.  In 2006 it passed a major milestone, having completed work valued at more than $3 billion and the same year opened additional offices in Dallas and Pittsburgh to complement its existing branches in Phoenix, Charlotte, Denver and Orlando. LauthÔÇÖs headquarters are in Indianapolis.Lauth celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2007 by breaking ground on perhaps its highest-profile project to date. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) represents one of AmericaÔÇÖs most popular sports, and when its chairman, Brian France, decided that Charlotte would be the ideal place to build its new Hall of Fame, he liked the location so much that he ended up negotiating an option with the city to build an office tower in partnership with Lauth.The NASCAR Hall of Fame will open in 2010, but with the office tower, studio for NASCAR Images, 70,000-square-foot ballroom and parking for 1,000 cars due to open a year ahead of it, phasing the project and coordinating the necessary permits has been challenging. The ground lease with the City of Charlotte was granted in one block, with the city owning the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Lauth the NASCAR Plaza building, with NASCAR as the principal tenant, taking up 120,000 square feet. The innovative 20-story building will provide NASCARÔÇÖs newly formed Media Group with full-service multimedia production facilities as well as a 24/7 news center to service media and news organizations, enabling it to provide a broad range of content services covering all aspects of the sport. This still leaves 280,000 square feet of prime office space available for occupancy by other tenants. They will find themselves in a landmark location on the main corner in and out of the Charlotte business district, directly off the I-277 beltway. This is not just another office block, though. NASCAR Plaza was designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, creators of more than 200 world-renowned projects, from the famous Louvre pyramid in Paris to the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan. In the US, ClevelandÔÇÖs Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the John Hancock Tower in Boston are other examples of I.M. PeiÔÇÖs iconic design genius, and NASCAR Plaza will undoubtedly raise the profile of the city both nationally and internationally.Building the tower gave Lauth a unique opportunity to demonstrate its abilities in scheduling, project management and construction technology. About 70,000 cubic yards of solid rock out of a total of 165,000 cubic yards of material had to be removed before the foundations were laid. Steelwork was already in progress by mid-November 2007. The tower structure is a composite 3,400-ton steel frame made up of 6,000 beams and individual pieces. An exterior made of tinted glass and granite panels matches the Hall of Fame, and aluminum panels in the curtain wall complement that buildingÔÇÖs stainless steel curvilinear ribbon, representing a banked race track.The construction schedule has been tight, requiring the frame to rise by a floor each week and placing JIT (just-in-time) manufacturing-style demands on the suppliers of steel, precast concrete elements and fixtures. With demand for A-grade office space in Charlotte going through the roof at present, time was an important element. However, itÔÇÖs an extremely sophisticated building, designed for energy efficiency and security as well as for beauty and impact. Its automation system integrates all the buildingÔÇÖs systems, from building security and access control to temperature and lighting control, fire and smoke alarm interface, elevator management, emergency communications, after-hour tenant access and billing. State-of-the-art total systems integration gives Lauth complete control of the building either from a building control unit (BCU), a PC workstation or via the Web. LauthÔÇÖs ÔÇ£parkologyÔÇØ approach is reflected in the integrated parking facility, meaning that workers who come by car will not be faced with a long walk to the office. The building is aiming for LEED Silver certification, and Lauth would have gone for a higher level had the Hall of Fame entered the same program. As it was, the fact the buildings shared groundwork meant that Silver was the highest available target for the tower. Lauth is committed to LEED as the best way to ensure that projects have minimum environmental impact, provide the best working experience for the people who use them, and encourage suppliers to adopt environmental best practices all the way down the supply chain. As a result, NASCAR Plaza will be one of the most environmentally responsible office towers in the southeastern United States, with its office space bathed in natural light and efficient energy management systems providing a healthy work environment. ÔÇô Editorial research by Michael Fretwell┬á