Factory, Architecture Firm Win Awards

PHILIPS, WI-A building here and an architectural firm based in Minneapolis were winners in the fifth annual Business Week/Architectural Record Awards, a contest that emphasizes smart design and smart business. Philips Plastics’ new 85,000-sf factory, designed by Krueck & Sexton of Chicago, is based on a design that reflects “both its rural roots and its open cultures.”

The design combines glass and steel with rough-and-smooth-cut Mankato-Kasota Stone, a dense sandstone native to the area. The plant’s open design improves communication between the office and production area and has contributed to a 10% improvement in on-time deliveries as well as improved employee morale.

Meanwhile, Minneapolis-based Ellerbe Becket’s Kansas City office combined with Nikken Sekkei of Tokyo to design the new Saitama Super Arena, a multi-purposesports complex in Saitama, Japan. This 500,000-sf “smart arena” can convert from a 5,000-seat basketball arena to a 30,000-seat football stadium.

The awards, published in the Nov. 5 edition of Business Week, is sponsored by the American Institute of Architects and two publications owned by theMcGraw-Hill Cos.