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Honda Training Facility

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Located in a densely wooded 20-acre site in rural Alabama, the Training Facility was sited to preserve tall stands of pine and mature hardwoods. A narrow access road winds through the trees capturing a sense of the forest before obliquely revealing the long low mass of the building anchored into the landscape. The building functions as a gateway to the factory and serves as a training facility for factory workers prior to moving to the assembly line.

 

The building is composed of three discrete volumes: a linear two-story bar of board-formed concrete housing classrooms and offices; a cubic meeting space clad in corrugated steel; and a large rectilinear shop of long-span steel and glass. The three simple volumes are made whole by their relationship to each other and to the site.

 

The concrete bar of classrooms buries into the hill and connects the upper level main entry to the training area. This simple organization reinforces the building’s goal of literally connecting theory and practice.

 

Honor Citation/AIA
Honor Award I/AIA
Honor Award II/AIA
Design Alabama Journal/Published
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