Project of the Month: Hobbs Brook Management, Margulies Perruzzi Architects and Columbia Construction Co. partnership complete 160,000 s/f office building

Hobbs Brook Management celebrates the opening of another Class A office building in Mass. The new building is four-stories and offers 160,000 s/f of Class A office space. Designed by Margulies Perruzzi Architects and constructed by Columbia Construction Co., this undertaking represents the latest successful collaboration effort of this project team. "Working with both Margulies Perruzzi Architects and Columbia Construction Co. has proven to be a successful formula for designing and building new and sustainable projects. The entire team was thrilled to be working together again to successfully complete this project, which is a significant addition to our portfolio as well as the town of Norwood." said Donald Oldmixon, first vice president of construction, real estate and leasing at Hobbs Brook. The building was designed to create a campus environment and accommodates two tenants; one being Dedham Medical Associates, a leading multispecialty healthcare provider. Its location, at 1175 Boston/Providence Hwy., allows a direct link to training and conferencing facilities in existing buildings nearby. It also offers Dedham Medical's patients access to more convenient care. Other amenities are located in the building as well, such as a centralized corporate dining and fitness center. With separate entrances and lobbies, one entrance features a glass canopy, while the Dedham Medical office features a patient drop-off canopy entrance and an adjacent glass-enclosed stair tower visible from the highway. A beautifully landscaped connection joins the new building to the existing campus. The facade of pre-cast concrete and metal rainscreen panels also blends into the context of the other buildings. Additionally, the primary lobby located at the front of the building includes a two-story atrium designed with a dramatic feature stair. Utilized by both tenants, it is a stunning space that that is visible from the outside. Specific space for Dedham Medical, which was designed by Steffian Bradley Associates and constructed by Columbia Const., includes 92,000 s/f of medical office space on four floors. New systems included nurse call systems, life safety systems, normal and emergency power, as well as scrub sinks and sterile equipment. Specialized areas include a dedicated imaging suite with a mobile MRI unit, pediatrics, internal medicine, optometry, an OB-GYN unit in addition to lab and outpatient surgery space. Other areas include a main reception area, a patient waiting room, as well as exam rooms, offices and auxiliary support space. A key feature to the overall building design was that it incorporated a central core which was split in two by a demising wall in order to meet the "two tenant" criteria of the building. The intent was that the building could easily become one core again should the building be converted to single tenancy in the future. The flexibility of the overall building was a critical goal of Hobbs Brook in the design and construction of this building. The exterior landscaping of the building was a large component to the project as well. The project redeveloped approximately three acres of land, and added nearly 300 parking stalls. Through this landscape design, close to one acre of pavement was removed and almost half an acre of impervious space was added. The new building was designed and constructed as a high-performance green building. Targeting LEED Silver for new construction by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), sustainable features include a high reflection roof that reduces heat island effect, solar shading of the exterior window system to cut down on heat gain in the building, high efficiency irrigation, and the use of drought resistant plant materials. This building is expected to be the town's first LEED certified building. The project team used Building Information Modeling (BIM) technologies to coordinate all design and construction activities. 1175 Boston/Providence Highway - Norwood, MA1175 Boston/Providence Highway - Norwood, MA1175 Boston/Providence Highway - Norwood, MA1175 Boston/Providence Highway - Norwood, MA