Amazon at Carolina Logistics Park

Summarize the project's program, features, and achievements: Amazon at CLP is an over one million square foot shipping and receiving industrial warehouse with a 20,000 SF office. The building boasts at 50’-0” tall with two-story glazing at the main entry. This building demonstrates the latest tilt-up concrete technology and capabilities with a strong reveal design, ceramic tile accents, ACM wrapped canopies and louvered sunshades with vertical fins, and ACM wrapped concrete tilt-up fin panels with recessed LED strip lighting both on the face of panels and side of panels. Due to its immense length and width, the architectural language demonstrates relief through varying heights of the panels, panel overlaps, and the asymmetrical reveal and hierarchy of the paint pattern. The building design evokes a sense of place through displaying both bold accent colors/ dark window mullions and warm/natural neutral colors marrying the concepts of current design trends and the history of Pineville together. The ceramic tile pattern exhibits a woodgrain texture nodding to the namesake of the town. This building completed construction within 11 months despite the construction shortages, COVID-19 pandemic, and complexity of design.

What obstacles were overcome related to the schedule, budget, program, specification, site, etc. on this project? Despite the accelerated schedule and the 70 days lost due to weather, the building was successfully completed on schedule, at 11 months. Due to the nature of the tenant and program, the building was completed in phases to allow for occupancies for continuous production as the construction finished up. The building went through multiple re-permitting and budgeting exercises because of the multitude of construction shortages at the time (roofing materials, paint, etc…), but even this did not delay completion.

Please communicate any engineering complexities or unique features of the panel design for this project. ? As this project was not a build-to-suit project for the existing tenant, the building was designed for maximum flexibility in the future. With various knock-out panels in place to create office entries at all corners and both centers of the shorter sides, storefront windows down both facades, and additional drive-in doors and overhead doors, the building is engineered to accommodate any user in the future. Due to the complexity of the main entry with the long spanning glazing/ spandrel panels, varying planes of tilt walls, and multiple materials, the architectural and engineering team worked together to achieve the desired sleek look successfully without losing the integrity of the initial design.

What is the potential for this project's impact on the community and/or environment? This building is the first of eight buildings to be completed in Carolina Logistics Park, and it has already brought activity and life to what was once an abandoned field. This building has brought hundreds of jobs to the Pineville area, and has been featured in the Charlotte Business Journal as “Industrial’s New Frontier.” The building has established a stronger connection between the periphery of the industrial corridor of Charlotte and Pineville. Because of the highly popular and recognizable tenant, the building has brought a spark of economic growth to a smaller town outside of Charlotte.