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Architects knew what ingredients Georgia Tech wanted in its new Food Processing Technology Building. It was up to them to create the recipe and cook up a masterpiece. Five months after the May 19 dedication ceremony of the $7.4 million building that brought Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and industry leaders to campus, J. Craig Wyvill, chief of the food processing division for the Georgia Tech Research Institute, still savors the moment.
"This is a signature building," Wyvill says. "It has everything we wanted — a high-bay space with overhead crane, lots of natural light, high-tech labs. We had a lot of interaction with the architects. This has been a great experience for us."
Wyvill knew what he wanted, say architects Janice N.Wittschiebe, Arch 78, M Arch 80, a partner with Richard + Wittschiebe, the project architects, and Howard S. Wertheimer, Arch 81, M Arch 85, a principal with Lord, Aeck, Sargent, which led in the schematic design and laboratory planning process. Their firms collaborated in the design and planning of this state-of-the-art research building.
The 36,000-square-foot building is designed to be flexible, accommodating the research and development of new and emerging technologies for the food processing industry, Wyvill says.
The central feature is a 4,370-foot high-bay research area, Wittschiebe says.
Wertheimer says that while Wyvill needed a "flexible, adaptable high-bay environment that had natural light," that also posed a problem.
In addition to offices and research laboratories for automation and environmental technology, the building has a 48-seat auditorium, a large conference room and a lower lobby exhibit area.
Another important design feature is what Wittschiebe calls the "wow factor" — the appeal of a signature building.
"It's a monumental building for its size," Wertheimer agrees.
The building is the first new GTRI facility to be built in more than 20 years and marks the completion of the first of a two-phase construction project.
©2005 Georgia Tech Alumni Association
