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Olympic Steel Southern Division Headquarters

Location: Winder, Georgia
Client: Olympic Steel, Inc.
Architect: BRPH Architects-Engineers & Caviness Lambert Engineering (MEP)

Olympic Steel’s Southern Division headquarters in northeast Georgia represents the first building in Barrow County to achieve LEED® Silver certification. In keeping with Olympic’s objectives for developing an environmentally friendly facility with minimal impact on the environment, Moss and Associates recycled—or diverted from landfills—more than 95% of the construction debris generated at the project site.

The facility’s highlights include a large conference room and a training room, both with state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment, as well as executive offices and a sizable employee workspace area. The latter is designed with acoustical ceiling “clouds” to create an open office feel. To create privacy, a “white noise” system was installed to work in conjunction with the acoustical ceiling to diminish the amount of sound reverberation throughout the open space. Interior finish materials with recycled content include carpet, ceiling tile, hard tile, and aluminum storefront. These materials contain minimum amounts of chemicals to reduce the effects of “new building smell.”

Cost-saving design features include energy-efficient lighting, heating and cooling systems. A sophisticated daylighting control system monitors the amount of light coming through the large exterior windows strategically positioned on all sides of the building, and subsequently increases/decreases the amount of light put out by the interior lighting fixtures. If a room is left vacant for more than 15 minutes, all lights in the room turn off automatically; when reoccupied, the lighting turns back on.

The wood-framed structure is clad in brick veneer with metal panel sheathing at the parapet. By using native plants that require little water, Moss and Associates was able to design a landscape irrigation system that will use 50% less water than a typical system. The water is pumped from an underground well.

At the heart of Olympic’s Winder site is a 285,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, which produces a full range of flat-rolled steel products for major original equipment manufacturers and other steel users.