AIA New Jersey Guidebook 150 Best Buildings and Places: One Airport Road

 

The professional office building was designed by Noboru Kobayashi. The spare and elegant design is made up of pure geometric forms that recall both Shinto temples and the Louis Khan Bath House in Ewing Township.  The complex consists of nine square pavilions of ascending dimension offset from each other on diagonal axes.  The pavilions are capped with steeply pitched pyramidal roofs covered by wood shingles.  The roofs are supported on regularly spaced wood columns with large glass windows between them. The windows sit on a solid plinth sheathed with flush board, horizontal siding.  The siding is pierced at regular intervals by wall mounted HVAC units that project slightly from the surface. The roofs have built in gutters that collect rain water and direct it through scuppers into the reflecting ponds from which the pavilions rise. The building is bordered by a landscaped berm that encloses a manicured lawn on the sides and the back of the site.  The u-shaped drive and parking area give access to a flagstone terrace, which creates a quiet and enclosed entry sequence to the building.