Construction starts on Arkansas Hewlett-Packard facility

10/15/2008

By Mark Friedman

Construction started Tuesday on the $35 million Hewlett-Packard customer service and technical support center in Conway, Ark.

Hewlett-Packard of Palo Alto, Calif., is expected to employee 1,200 workers at the center, which should be completed in December 2009, says Brad Lacy, president and CEO of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce. The two-story, 150,000-sq-ft building will be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified, Lacy said.

"It's going to be a much higher performing building from an energy standpoint than your typical project," says Jason Landrum, principal at The Wicox Group Architects in Little Rock. The firm is designing the project.

To minimize the environmental impact of the pavement for the parking lot at the site, Landrum added bioswales to the design, which should help treat the rainwater before it seems into the ground. Also the 23-acre site will feature low-water, low-maintenance landscaping, he said.

The exterior of the structure will be metal walls and glass to draw in as much natural light to the office building as possible, Landrum says. The exit stairs will be enclosed in glass on the exterior of the building. 

The placement of the exit stairs "helps break up the mass of this building," Landrum says.

"It also encourages the users of the building to use the stairs not the elevators by making the stairs open and attractive."

The general contractor will be Nabholz Construction Corp. of Conway, Ark. The Conway Development Corp. will own the building but lease it to Hewlett-Packard, Lacy said.

In June HP announced it was building the center in Arkansas.

"HP conducted a nationwide search and chose Conway as one of the locations based on multiple factors, including the quality of the workforce, business environment, standard of living an government cooperation," Gary Fazzion, HP vice president, government affairs, said in a news release.

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