The new Gehl Co. Headquarters in West Bend, Wis., incorporates insulated architectural metal wall panels on its façade to create a contemporary look for the 72,000-square-foot building that is home to the construction and agricultural equipment manufacturing company’s product design, development and testing operations.
“This was going to be a cultural shift for the owner in their office environment,” says John Chapman, AIA, with Milwaukee-based Eppstein Uhen Architects. “It’s turned out to, fortunately enough, replicate what the goals were for the design, in terms of bringing people together: much more collaboration, much more creativity and more of an openness in the office, which has exceeded their expectations.”
According to Chapman, the open-office aesthetic also was intended to draw a connection between the company’s facility and its primarily outdoor-use products. The white metal building has continuous, floor-to-ceiling windows providing expansive views of the exterior. “It was a pretty phenomenal site in that it was a large, expansive acreage that looked over a sort of river valley and a park setting,” says Chapman. “So the building sort of floats on top of this hill and looks over this. The views are phenomenal.”
On the exterior, the building’s façade incorporates insulated architectural metal wall panels in Moon Township, Pa.–based Centria’s Formawall Dimension Series and Formawall Graphix Series. The latter’s panel design is used to create the appearance of 12 smaller panels when in reality, only one panel is used. Both types of panels are Cradle to Cradle Silver certified by Charlottesville, Va.-based MBDC.
A yellow paneled wall extends outward from the front of the building on one end and cuts into the main lobby on the other. Chapman says this was done to incorporate the company’s brand colors into the facility. The wall, which reaches the height of the front entry door, also incorporates the company’s name in black lettering as another source of identification for the building.
Centria manufactured 19,510 square feet of 22/26-gauge Formawall Graphix Series 2-inch Horizontal panels in bone white and Gehl yellow with embossed finish and Fluorofinish coating. In addition, Centria manufactured 4,608 square feet of 22/26-gauge Formawall Dimension Series 2-inch horizontal panels in bone white with embossed finish and Fluorofinish coating. Construction Supply and Erection Inc., Germantown, Wis., installed the metal products. C.D. Smith Construction Inc., Fond du Lac, Wis., served as the contractor on the project.