Green Architecture Design SAP America Headquarters by FXFOWLE Architects

December 15th, 2010 - Posted in Architecture Design

Located in Newtown Square, USA, FXFOWLE Architects have designed SAP Americas Headquarters. This is new office expansion achieves maximum LEED points in ‘water efficiency’ and ‘innovation in design’ categories. SAP saw an opportunity in its new America Headquarters building to show environmental stewardship and a commitment to improve energy performance. FXFOWLE employed a number of strategies that contribute to the building’s superior energy design, including geothermal wells that use constant ground temperature to assist in heating and cooling and an ice storage plant that will operate during overnight hours when electric rates are reduced. The chilled water from the melting ice will be used to cool the building during the day.

The office areas will use an underfloor air distribution system that achieves significant energy savings while giving full control of the environment at each workstation and office. Lighting systems will be controlled by daylight sensors, which will both dim the lighting and raise or lower window shades based on levels of daylight. The floor-to-ceiling glass exterior wall will also be triple glazed to provide high thermal insulation value while reducing ultraviolet penetration.

Located in a suburban area outside Philadelphia, the expansion building responds to its surrounding 110-acre site the existing building, topography, vegetation, and views and the importance to enhance and preserve these resources. The building’s curved form is nestled organically along the land’s grade and acts as the basis for integrated sustainable design strategies. A large grove of Chestnut trees, a threatened species, was conserved on the site by shaping the building around wooded areas.

A four-storey, glass-enclosed atrium serves as the building’s circulation spine and venue for corporate meetings and social gatherings. The atrium, shaded by a brise soleil and enriched with a fieldstone wall at the base, imparts a sense of serenity and connection to natural elements. Calibrated sustainable strategies to increase the building’s energy efficiency include geothermal wells, a triple-glazed curtain wall, ice storage system and green roofs.