Takeda Pharmaceuticals A Green Project

Pharmaceutical's new office building in Deerfield Illinois, designed by famous architects TVS, using steel and glass as basic building materials, recently received a Gold rating under the USGBC Leadership in LEED-NC. Mariya Rasheeda will lowdown on what went into this interesting green building.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan’s largest pharmaceutical firm, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. has undertaken a major expansion project to relocate and expand its North American headquarters operations. The new offices are located in the Chicago suburb of Deerfield, and help fortify the company from the emerging biotech corridor taking shape in Northeast Illinois.

Takeda has been committed to create an environmentally responsible work-place that gives employees a world-class place to work, which directly helps to strengthen their commitment to innovation. For this prestigious project, they approached to the world renowned design firm TVS which has more than 35 years of experience in planning, architecture and interior design.

The construction on this project began in September 2005 and the doors of the Takeda Deerfield Home Office were officially opened at a Grand Opening Celebration in October 2006. The new headquarter captures the dynamic nature of the company’s corporate culture, while encouraging employee collaboration and productivity in a sustainable environment.

The project is located on a 70 acre site fronting the Tri-state Tollway and Lake Cook Road intersection in Deerfield, Illinois. Presently, only phase one is completed comprising two buildings. It is expected that when all construction phases are complete, the 1.2 million square-foot campus will accommodate up to five office buildings.

Design of Buildings

The project was designed as a sweeping arc of five office buildings that embrace the naturally landscaped site, while maximizing views and daylight inside.

The currently constructed Phase I facility, approximately 380,000 square feet in size, is a combination of form and function that provides flexibility and future growth for Takeda. Phase 1 of the new home office includes two office buildings with a building capacity of close to 1,300. Both buildings are five-story steel office structures with raised floors and are enclosed in a high performance glass and aluminum skin. Each is linked at the ground floor by a common lobby. Amenity spaces for Phase 1 include a cafeteria, conference center, fitness center, general store and structured parking.

The first floor houses a lobby, offices, a 300 seat cafeteria, a modern conference center and a 7,000 sq fitness center. Employee offices and workstations are located from floors two to five. A sky lit monumental stair within the core of each building and a connecting link between the buildings invite employee interaction and communication.

Targeting the Gold LEED-NC Certification

Environmental friendly building strategies were integrated into the design phase in an attempt to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s standards for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Today, because of the sustainable thinking of the entire project team, the new Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Home Office complex has received a Gold rating under the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for New Construction (LEED-NC) standard. The initiatives that Takeda has undertaken to comply with the LEED program include—the development of a native prairie landscape, site lighting sensitively designed to limit light trespass, providing open space with water-efficient landscaping and water use reduced by using more efficient fixtures and controls.

Achieving sustainable design solutions

To achieve LEED-NC certification, Takeda and the TVS design team implemented several sustainable design strategies into the project. For example, 50% of the building’s power comes from “green” energy sources. Other sustainable strategies for the buildings include - preferred parking for low-emission vehicles and carpools, bicycle storage and changing facilities, energy-star roof, water efficient fixtures and irrigation, high performance curtain wall, low-E insulated glass and sun-screening fins, raised floor system, energy-efficient lighting, occupancy sensors and day-lighting controls, skylights at central stairs (‘free’ daylight), construction waste management plan, specifying materials with recycled content and manufactured regionally, low VOC products and an indoor air quality management plan.

LEED-NC is the nationally recognized standard in the United States for certifying high-performance green architecture that is healthy, creates a productive place to work, less costly to operate and maintain, and reduces the environmental footprint, according to the USGBC.