Its walls house the military might of a newspaper force, but the design of Consolidated Publishing Co.’s new home doesn’t resemble any building that once stood on Fort McClellan.Rather, the building is a “harmony of design and nature” that is pleasing owners, executives and employees of the company.
For employees of The Anniston Star, the building is a bright contrast to their former offices on 10th Street. They have abandoned the near windowless, concrete bunker and its cramped quarters for a spacious, colorful building with numerous windows.
The building also is a gift to the community and a legacy to its owners.
Three years ago, owners and executives of Consolidated Publishing Co. met with architect David Hogan of the Framingham, Mass.-based architectural firm, Dario Designs Inc. The firm specializes strictly in the design of news-paper and printing facilities.
What followed was “The stars and the trees,” an aesthetic vision statement that outlined the goals for the project and an architect who educated himself on the company’s needs and read “every book (there is) to read about Anniston.”
The group discussed several ideas for accomplishing the goal of centralizing the company, including: expanding the 10th Street building; isolating the building for office space; or converting the building into a production center.
An evaluation of those ideas ended with the group concluding that it was less expensive for the total dollar value and for future goals to build new, said Ed Fowler, vice president for operations.
A goal for the building’s design was to represent Anniston’s industrial history and to follow the model of the city’s founders by preserving nature.
The building, situated on 10 of the 22 acres purchased from the Army, provides more than office space. Plans are to leave the remaining land as a nature preserve.
“We wanted for the families — the Ayers and the Sanguinettis — to have a legacy to leave to the community,” said Executive Editor Chris Waddle.
Company officials hope the building serves as an economic catalyst for the area, Waddle said.
“It’s also the first building, from the ground up, to be established in what is literally the new town of McClellan,” said chairman and publisher H. Brandt Ayers. “And we hope it will be an example to how the new town is devel-oped.”
As is, the building is expected to meet the growing needs of the company for at least the next 10 years.
If additions are needed, the building is designed in a way to allow for construction without interrupting work.
In the vision statement, Waddle wrote, “We’re not trying to build a structure-as-art, however. We’re more like a Frank Lloyd Wright client, seeking a harmony of design and nature — remembering always to honor newspaper budgets.”
The statement and the architect’s research combined to ensure that the $16 million project was an original.
“One of the things we try to do is to make them unique,” said Hogan, partner and vice president of the architectural firm. “You want something with the sense of place that is uniquely Anniston’s — something that I could only build in Anniston.
“The things that always impress me are the things that draw their strengths from what’s around them.”
For the design of this building, the architect drew upon nature and Anniston’s industrial history while keeping prac-ticality in mind.
Exposed, steel beams, intentionally aged to appear rusty, support the roof of the main entrance. Concrete, normally a dull gray, is stained light and dark brown. Roofs shine with silver tin, and the central pods of each wing of the building feature windows mimicking those seen in the city’s old factories. Ayers has described the pods as tee-pees.
The sheltering overhangs of the building also provide protection from the rain and the hot Alabama sun, Hogan said.
But the industrial features don’t stand against the natural beauty of McClellan.
The position of the building was adjusted from its original location to save more trees. Owners forced contractors to maintain a minimal construction area to save the trees. And trees were added in the parking lot, following the pattern set by the city founders who planted thousands of oaks in the city.
“The fine equality of a family newspaper publisher, as I said in that op-ed piece, is a passionate commitment to one patch of earth on this planet and the people who live there,” Ayers said. “So in a sense, this building, which leaves a heavy debt in the downside of my career, is a gift to the community that I have cared deeply about.”
“We wanted the building to look like it belonged,” Fowler said. “And I think we succeeded.”
While the building accomplishes the goal of preserving the land, the building gives employees a pleasing, practical environment.
The technical services of the company — computer network and computer technicians’ offices — are centrally lo-cated in the building, as those services are key to company operations, Fowler said. The executive offices are within a short walk of the newsroom, accounting and advertising, Fowler said. The executives work closely with each de-partment.
“There is a reason for everything being located where it is,” Fowler said.
Above all, employees are happy. Features to the building include windows and space.
“It’s absolutely stunning,” said associate editor John Fleming who has worked at The Star for four and a half years. “I cannot tell you how pleased I am with our new environment. Most stunning are the windows, which reflect the symbiotic relationship with humans and nature.
“To give you an example (of the improvements), my publisher used to walk into my office and say, ‘Ah, the edito-rial department, it has all the ambiance of a boy’s bathroom,’ — so compare that with our new surroundings.”
The new building includes the first photography studio in 15 years. It’s equipped better than any before, with com-puters for each photographer, lamps and backdrops.
“It’s great to be able to go in to take a picture without having to tear the place down to do it,” said photographer Stephen Gross, a 25-year employee of The Star.
Deidre Henderson, retail advertising executive, said there is almost no comparison between the space she now works in and the old building. Henderson said she and others plan ahead before going to bookkeeping and ask colleagues on their way to other departments to carry paperwork. The walk to the other department takes time, but there is plenty to see along the way.
“It’s like looking at a picture …,” Henderson said of the new site. “The surroundings make it a lot more easy to work. You find yourself, at least I do, in a better mood just by the surroundings.”
The advertising, circulation and classified departments worked in cramped quarters at The Star’s 10th Street loca-tion. Their desks butted against one another.
“It’s not as hectic,” said Jessica Robinson, who works in the circulation department as a customer service represen-tative. “You’re not bumping into people.”
