Porsche U.S. Experience Center and Headquarters | HOK

Porsche U.S. Experience Center

Frequently we see new and modern buildings which are put near old ones. Porsche has decided to make a difference, transferring the Headquarter 7,494 km away from its root, Stuttgart, Germany, right in the heart of Atlanta, Georgia. While the Experience Center and Headquarters are set in U.S., Germany keeps all the history of Porsche in a museum.

The complex will be the centerpiece of a 26-acre aerotropolis near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (an aerotropolis is an urban plan designed around an airport, often composed of office parks, hotels and cargo holdings which is just as accessible to commuters half way around the world as it is to those living within a few miles). HOK‘s project includes architecture, interior design, workplace strategy, sustainable design, high-performance building engineering, environmental graphics and landscape architecture.

HOK designed a place where the essence of Porsche is reflected in the building. Even more, he has merged offices, training and driving functions in a nearly 18580.6 square meters complex. An interior ‘Main Street’ and a courtyard area for showcasing the vehicles will function as the heart of the facility. From this courtyard space, customers and employees will be able to interact while watching the action on the track below.

Green solutions, such as natural ventilation, on-site energy generation, planted roofs and gray-water systems will contribute to the Firm’s pursuit of a minimum of LEED Silver for the project. But the importance is not focused only on the exterior, but an equally important part of the design criteria was to bring the Porsche brand and product experience inside the office and meeting environments, hospitality areas, training facilities, even the parking structure. Cafes, team rooms and meeting spaces will also flank the natural light-filled courtyard area.  The floors surrounding the courtyard will be lined with floor-to-ceiling windows that open up the interior spaces and blend them with the exterior. In the first for any North American Automative Headquarters, the Porsche site design integrates the track with the building, bringing a whole new definition to ‘rush hour’ – namely that of the adrenaline kind.