AOL's 240,000 sq. ft. office building started life as a Tilt-Up 183,000 sq. ft. concrete box warehouse with a large open high bay storage area and a smaller office and low bay storage area. The building is located in a 38-acre campus that also includes a six-story traditional 1980's office building and a parking structure.

The history of this facility definitely demonstrates the flexibility of Tilt-Up construction when architectural imagination is applied.

The exposed steel rafters and some of the industrial ceiling lighting of the warehouse are still there, and visible, but inside this shell a variety of specialized use areas have been created. Everything is at an angle, everything is sleek and modern. Free form shaped dropped ceilings in some areas create intimacy, while the two story high ceilings in the bulk of the space create an open and airy feel.

The versatility of Tilt-Up is shown in several ways with this project.

A glass and metal curtainwall, three stories high, was hung from the structure on its southeast wall, facing a wooded preserve and the public entrance.

Tilt-Up panels were also removed in three locations in the building, allowing three conference "pods" to be built jutting out from both the first and second floors. Because the pods extend out from the original building, these conference rooms can have windows on two or three sides.

In addition, Tilt-Up was used to add second floor space to a portion of the original building.

It comes as no surprise that the interior design of this building is high tech and state of the art. Three atria spaced through the building bring natural light into the center of the structure. These allow for all open workstationsand enclosed offices to have access to controlled daylight.

Each employee has individually dimmable ambient lights in his or her work area. In addition, light sensors on the roof of the building automatically adjust interior light levels according to the season, the weather, and the time of day.

This project is an award winner because it shows how an older Tilt-Up building can be modified to produce something spectacular.